Penske Perfect Twice Over: Porsche Wins 24 Hours of Daytona for the Second Year in a Row

#7: Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, Laurens Vanthoor celebrate in victory lane

When the Rolex clock finally ticked its twenty-fourth hour, it was Felipe Nasr saw the checkered flag before anyone else for the second time in as many years. Last time, the Roger-Penske fielded Porsche broke a 54-year winless streak for the manufacturer; this year, the defending series champion No. 7 team just added to its win column.

Any endurance race is a challenge, and team of Nasr, Nick Tandy, and Laurens Vanthoor had to face down their own teammates. While trouble beset almost every other car in the top GTP class, the No. 6 and No. 7 stayed up front all race and swapped positions between themselves. When night fell, they got up front and never relinquished that position.

Challengers continued to fall throughout the race. First it was the Lamborghini, out before it even began in its first Rolex 24 with mechanical issues after just over an hour. Then it was the two Cadillacs crashing out in the night, including the No. 31 suffering a suspension failure from the lead. Then it was the No. 24 BMW, the polesitter, who ran with the Porsches all race but suffered too much contact and required repairs to the nose late.

By the end, the only challenger left on the lead lap with the Porsches was the Meyer-Shank No. 60 Acura. The Acura put up a good fight, nearly making it a three-car battle for the lead.

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The field was bunched together for a final restart with under an hour to go, and Nasr seized on the opportunity and despatched the No. 6 with about 20 minutes remaining. He never looked back, but the No. 6 had to face the pressure from a hard-charging Acura and ultimately fell back to the third with three laps left in the race. The Acura tried to chase for the lead, making up time in the closing three laps, but the No. 7 couldn’t be reached and secured a strong win by 1.335 seconds.

“It was something there at the end, I tell you!” said team owner Roger Penske. He admitted he was nervous watching his cars battle for the lead: “I didn’t like that, but we’ve just got to let them do that!” he laughed.

Penske promised even bigger things for the joint program with the legendary manufacturer that has already taken IMSA and world sports car racing by storm since it was started competing in 2023.

“To see the work that we’ve done with this Porsche program over the past couple of years, the championship last year was just the start of it,” he said.

#7: Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, Laurens Vanthoor celebrate on the podium

The whole team bought into that idea, said Nick Tandy, one of the drivers. Tandy accomplished something extra special for himself, becoming the only driver in history to have a win at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, 24 Hours of Spa, and now the 24 Hours of Daytona. His focus was on that last accolade after the race, and he credited the win to the whole team.

“You see every one of these people here? That’s the biggest factor that went in,” said Tandy. “Just incredible, what a race. To have a shootout at the finish, the two cars in the front, shame we didn’t get the one-two, but just incredible.”

Co-driver Laurens Vanthoor shared his elation after the race.

“I have no words so far,” said the driver whose brother raced in the No. 24 BMW that finished fourth. “I’ve been wanting to win this race for so long and I’ve been so close for so many times.

“Being part of this team is already a dream, and a couple of months ago winning the World Championship and then winning Daytona,” Vanthoor said. “Porsche, Penske, two of the biggest names in motorsports…it was a lifetime goal to be a part of this program.”

In the end, the race ended with Porsche-Penske cars in first and third and the Meyer Shank Acura No. 60 Acura in second on the podium. The No. 24 BMW and No. 10 Cadillac rounded out the top five, both one lap down.

Pos Car Manufacturer Laps Behind Pit stops
1 #7 Porsche 963M 781 –.— 13
2 #60 Acura ARX-06M 781 1.335 16
3 #6 Porsche 963M 781 4.423 14
4 #24 BMW M Hybrid V8M 780 1 lap 15
5 #10 Cadillac V-Series.RM 780 1 lap 14
6 #85 Porsche 963M 780 1 lap 16
7 #25 BMW M Hybrid V8M 777 4 laps 14
8 #93 Acura ARX-06M 741 40 laps 22
9 #31 Cadillac V-Series.RM 731 50 laps 13
10 #5 Porsche 963M 352 429 laps 0
11 #40 Cadillac V-Series.RM 245 536 laps 0
12 #63 Lamborghini SC63M 34 747 laps 0
Owen Johnson

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