The 2018 24 Hours of Daytona (formally the 56th Rolex 24 at Daytona) was an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned 24-hour automobile endurance race for Daytona Prototype and Grand Touring sports cars held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on January 27 to 28, 2018. It was the first of twelve 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship races, the 56th 24 Hours of Daytona, and the first in the four-round North American Endurance Cup.
Renger van der Zande for Wayne Taylor Racing started from pole position and led for most of the opening hour. Filipe Albuquerque of Mustang Sampling Racing took the lead after the first round of pit stops and kept it for five hours before losing it to Team Penske's Hélio Castroneves. Whelen Engineering Racing (WER), Penske and Mustang Sampling traded the lead several times over the next 12 hours. Mustang Sampling's Albuquerque, Christian Fittipaldi and João Barbosa led the final third of the race to win in a record-breaking distance of 808 laps and and take the lead of the Prototype Drivers' and Teams' Championships. Mike Conway, Eric Curran, Stuart Middleton and Felipe Nasr were second in the sister WER car. Third were CORE Autosport's Jon Bennett, Colin Braun, Romain Dumas and Loïc Duval.
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) drivers Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook, won the Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) class, after passing the sister team of Sébastien Bourdais, Dirk Müller and Joey Hand at its final pit stop. The team led all bar nine laps in the category to claim CGR's 200th motor racing victory and the lead of the GTLM points lead. The pole-sitting Corvette Racing trio of Antonio García, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller completed the class podium. Having led the last four and a half hours, Mirko Bortolotti, Rik Breukers, Rolf Ineichen and Franck Perera of GRT Grasser Racing Team won the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) category to claim Lamborghini's first 24-hour race victory and the lead of the class points standings, despite starting from the back of the grid for failing a mandatory post-qualifying stall test. Michael Shank Racing's A. J. Allmendinger, Trent Hindman, Katherine Legge and Álvaro Parente was second and Andrea Caldarelli, Bryce Miller, Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow placed Paul Miller Racing's car in third.
Background Preview
NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who built the Daytona International Speedway in 1959, conceived the 24 Hours of Daytona as a race to attract European sports car endurance racing to the United States and provide international exposure to Daytona. It is informally considered part of the "Triple Crown of Endurance Racing" with the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2017. It was the fifth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC, and the 56th 24 Hours of Daytona. The 24 Hours of Daytona was the first of twelve scheduled sports car endurance races of 2018 by IMSA, and the first of four races of the North American Endurance Cup (NAEC). It took place at the 12-turn Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, from January 27 to 28.
Entry list A total of 50 cars were officially entered for the 24 Hours of Daytona with most entries being in the Prototype and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories. The 2017 race winner, Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR), returned to defend their title. Three existing teams, Action Express Racing (AER), Spirit of Daytona Racing and Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM), each fielded two Daytona Prototype International (DPi) Cadillac DPi-V.R and Nissan Onroak DPi cars. WTR sent one Cadillac DPi-V.R chassis to Daytona. Penske Racing made their full-time sports car racing comeback for the first time since the 2009 Rolex Sports Car Series, fielding two Honda-powered Acura ARX-05 DPis for 2018. Mazda returned to sports car racing after withdrawing with three races left in the 2017 season so their duo of RT24-Ps could be re-engineered by German outfit Team Joest. They were joined by ten global-specification Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) cars, represented by three out of the four major chassis: six Oreca 07s entered by JDC–Miller MotorSports, Jackie Chan DCR JOTA (two each), Performance Tech Motorsports (PTR), CORE Autosport (one each). a trio of Ligier JS P217s utilised by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (one) and United Autosports (two), and one Riley Mk. 30 from BAR1 Motorsports.
After the aging Prototype Challenge class was retired after 2017 due to declining interest from teams, Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) was made the highest-ranking class below the Prototype category in the IMSA SCC Championship. Nine cars from five manufacturers were entered for Daytona. The BMW M8 GTE made its racing competition debut at the track; Team RLL entered two chassis for 2018. Porsche fielded two 911 RSRs for the second successive season, and Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) entered their two Ford GTs for the third consecutive year. Ferrari aligned with Risi Competizione for one 488 GTE. Corvette Racing transported their two aging C7.Rs to Daytona. GTD featured 21 cars amongst 8 GT3 manufacturers. Ferrari was the most represented marque in GTD with four 488s: two by Scuderia Corsa and one each from Spirit of Race and Risi Competizione. A mix of teams and automotive brands made up the rest of the GTD field, including two GRT Grasser Racing Team-entered Lamborghini Huracáns with a third by Paul Miller Racing (PSR), and a trio of Riley Motorsports-entered Mercedes-AMGs. Michael Shank Racing (MSR) and HART entered three Acura NSXs and a trio of Porsche 911 Rs with one each from Park Place Motorsports, Wright Motorsports and Manthey Racing. Other cars fielded were a duo of Audi R8 LMS from Magnus Racing and Land Motorsport, two Lexus RC Fs by 3GT Racing and a BMW M6 from Turner Motorsport.
Each car was driven by two drivers who contested the entire IMSA SCC season. They were joined by one NAEC racer and one or two extra drivers. These additional participants were recruited from a variety of racing categories, including the FIA World Endurance Championship (such as Gustavo Menezes for JDC-Miller MotorSports), the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (such as René Rast for Mazda Team Joest), and the IndyCar Series (such as Ryan Hunter-Reay for WTR) among others. Some drivers competed at Daytona on a one-off basis, such as Fernando Alonso, a two-time Formula One World Champion, Williams driver Lance Stroll, Formula E racers Felix Rosenqvist and António Félix da Costa, A. J. Allmendinger, Justin Marks, Brendan Gaughan and Austin Cindric from NASCAR, and 2017 Formula Three European Champion Lando Norris. Stuart Middleton won the Sunoco Whelen Challenge by taking the GT4 category title in his debut year in the British GT Championship, earning him a seat with AER.
Pre-event balance of performance changes
The week before the official three-day test session at the circuit, IMSA altered the balance of performance in all three categories to create parity in the classes. of weight was added to the Cadillac DPi-V.Rs compared to 2017 but the decrease of handling abilities was countered by having the car's top speed raised by having its air restrictor increased by . The duo of Nissan Onroak DPis and the two Acura ARX-05s had their weight increased to to lower their performance, more than the LMP2 chassis and the pair of Mazda RT24-Ps. The Nissan and Mazda engines were not altered because IMSA was satisfied with their performances, but the series changed the aerodynamic packages on some Prototypes which affected their handing abilities. The debuting BMW M8 GTE's weight was established at and its turbocharger boost curve was revised over its predecessor, the BMW M6 GTLM. The Mercedes-AMG GTD car had its top speed raised slightly with the enlargement of its air restrictor by .
Testing
All 50 entries were involved in three days of testing divided into seven sessions held at the circuit from January 5 to 7. João Barbosa set the fastest time early in the first day's running with a time of 1:37.266 for the 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac. Co-driver Filipe Albuquerque later improved in the second session to a 1:37.196 lap. The fastest LMP2 lap came from Colin Braun's No. 54 CORE Oreca in second, and the No. 10 WTR Cadillac of Renger van der Zande was third. Tristan Vautier set the fourth-fastest lap for Spirit of Daytona in its No. 90 Cadillac. Ho-Pin Tung's No. 78 Jackie Chan Oreca 07 was fifth. Laurens Vanthoor led GTLM in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR with a 1:44.065 lap in the second session, and teammate Nick Tandy's sister car was third. They were separated by Richard Westbrook's No. 67 CGR Ford. GTD was led by Rolf Ineichen's and later Franck Perera's No. 11 Grasser Lamborghini from Matteo Cairoli's No. 59 Manthey Porsche.
The second day's testing saw Felipe Nasr lead in the No. 31 AER Cadillac at 1:36.793. Jordan Taylor improved WTR's Cadillac best time to second. Albuquerue was slower than the day before and was third. Eddie Cheever III, driving the No. 90 Spirit Cadillac, was fourth-fastest by going faster than co-driver Vautier in the day's second session. The No. 78 Jackie Chan Oreca was the highest-placed LMP2 car in fifth with Alex Brundle aboard. The No. 66 CGR Ford of Sébastien Bourdais moved to the top of GTLM with a lap of 1:43.795 in the fourth session. Gianmaria Bruni was second-quickest in the No. 912 Porsche. Ryan Briscoe put the sister No. 67 CGR Ford third, and Alessandro Pier Guidi's No. 62 Risi Ferrari was fourth-fastest. GTD was still led by the No. 11 Grasser Lamborghini courtesy of Ineichen's lap on the first day. Manthey's No. 59 Porsche remained second; driver Sven Müller improved its best lap time.
The third and final day of testing featured a qualifying session to determine the locations of the team's pit stalls and garages for the race three weeks later. Nasr's No. 31 AER Cadillac set the fastest overall time with a 1:35.806 lap. The second-fastest car was the No. 90 Spirit Cadillac of Vautier and Albuquerque putting the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac in third position. WTR were fourth after a lap by Van der Zande and Dane Cameron took fifth in the No. 6 Penske Acura ARX-05. Joey Hand set the fastest overall GTLM time in the No. 66 CGR Ford with a 1:43.610 lap. Oliver Gavin's No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R was second, followed by the sister No. 67 Ford GT driven by Briscoe. Ineichen's lap from the first day of testing was never bettered and the No. 11 Grasser Lamborghini remained the fastest GTD car. Cairoli's first session lap in the Manthey Porsche was fast enough to keep it second in class.
After testing, IMSA adjusted the balance of performance for the second time in all categories after analysing data of the car's performances. The Cadillac DPi-V.Rs had their fuel capacity enlarged by along with their refuelling restrictors by but their air restrictors were . The size of the fuel tanks in the Acura ARX-05 and the Nissan Onroak DPis were increased by and with the size of both car's fuel restrictors increased by . Nissan Onroak DPis boost pressure was increased to peak at 7,100 rpm. The Mazda RT24-Ps were lighter. Its rev limit was raised to 8,600 rpm and its air restrictor was lengthened by . The Acura, Nissan and Mazda DPis gurney flaps were adjusted for aerodynamic purposes.