
The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL GTP car during second practice at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Jared Bokanoski | The Podium Finish)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship teams took to the track this past weekend for their final round of preparations for the Rolex 24, beginning with 2025’s rendition of the Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway. Seven sessions spanning three days of testing allowed for every team and driver to fine tune and adjust for the race twice around the clock.
In the top class GTP ranks, it was BMW M Team RLL’s No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 piloted by Dries Vanthoor that set the fastest lap of the weekend with a 1:35.424 in Friday’s second session. Two other BMW drivers, Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann, put the sister No. 25 car fifth and sixth on the board, while Vanthoor’s teammate Philipp Eng nailed down the eighth fastest time of the weekend. The returning Meyer-Shank Racing Acura’s of Nick Yelloly and Tom Blomqvist rounded out the top three lap times with a 1:35.619 and 1:35.827, respectively. Other notable results included the Daytona debut of the Lamborghini SC-63 piloted by Romain Grosjean, which finished fourth.
Porsche’s fleet of 963 GTPs shared an incredibly mixed bag of results with the fastest of the manufacturer’s times being the seventh place time of 1:36.103 by JDC-Miller Motorsports’ Gianmaria Bruni, with the other top-10 time placed by the factory Team Penske outfit with Laurens Vanthoor wheeling the No. 7 to ninth overall. The fastest time for the No. 6 entry came from Mathieu Jaminet netting 12th on the time chart with a 1:36.425. As for the other Porsche 963, fielded by Proton Competition, lap times of 28th, 29th, 35th and 36th were scored, with the team’s fastest time being turned by Neel Jani.
As for Cadillac’s three-car contingent, Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 carried the flag for the reunion between Wayne-Taylor Racing and the American brand, setting a 1:36.697 time for 14th fastest on the board. Meanwhile, the No. 40 of Jordan Taylor netted 25th as the team’s fastest time. As for the 2023 IMSA Champions at Action-Express Racing, Jack Aitken ran a 1:37.511 for 31st on the timesheet in Friday’s opening session.
Up and down the board, across all five manufactures, twelve teams, and forty-five drivers, there seemed to be a wide-range of performance with no clear-cut favorite going into the 63rd annual Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The No. 24 BMW M Team RLL GTP car during final practice at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Jared Bokanoski | The Podium Finish)