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Ford Survives GTD Pro Brawl for Maiden Mustang Win; AWA Lands Landmark Corvette Victory

The No. 65 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3 as the sun sets during the Rolex 24

The No. 65 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3 as the sun sets during the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Tyson Gifford | The Podium Finish)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Since its beginning in 2022, IMSA’s split GTD categories have been home to what could be seen as some of the series’ toughest, most competitive competition, especially when the series takes to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway for the historic Rolex 24. Moments like the iconic Porsche duel in the debut of the GTD PRO category in 2022 or any plethora of battles between fan favorite manufacturers like Corvette, Aston Martin, Ferrari, etc.

The 63rd iteration of North America’s most prestigious sportscar race added another piece to what is already becoming an iconic pairing of category and track with what can only be described as three manufacturers going to all-out war for 24 grueling hours. 37 teams comprise a jam-packed GT grid with a record 15 in the PRO ranks and 22 in the traditional GTD class.

The headline story of the GTD Pro category was the manufacturer brawl that Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and Paul Miller Racing’s BMWs found themselves in as the sun rose over the speedway on Sunday morning. Paul Miller Racing’s No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 Evo that was in the hands of Augusto Farfus, who was removed from any form of contention after the eighth hour incident sparked by the Wayne-Taylor Racing No. 40, played linebacker for the No. 1 entry. At the time, the No. 1 was piloted by Connor De Philippi, who was doing everything in his power to break away from the hard charging No.  4 Corvette driven by Tommy Milner.

This fight ultimately saw the No. 48 receive the black flag for blocking, however for whatever the reason may have been, be it a lack of communication to Milner or just the melting pot of aggression and frustration, Milner made an overzealous overtake attempt which led to damages to his own No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3. This resulted in Milner giving Farfus the one finger salute as Farfus went to serve the penalty.

“First and foremost, the driver should be embarrassed. The team should be embarrassed, and BMW should be embarrassed for that kind of racing,” Milner stated in an interview with Nick Daman of IMSA Radio.

Ford Multimatic Motorsports drivers Dennis Olsen, Fred Vervisch and Chris Mies receiving their Rolex watches after winning the Rolex 24. (Photo: Jared Bokanoski | The Podium Finish)

Ford Multimatic Racing was then able to capitalize on what was already a banner performance throughout the entire weekend. With a final restart culminating in their No. 65 entry wrenching victory from the No. 3 Corvette Racing machine, Ford driver Dennis Olsen and Corvette driver Alexander Sims rekindled the famed rivalry between the pair of iconic American brands.

In the end, it was Olsen who, joined by teammates Chris Mies and Fred Vervisch, planted the Mustang GT3 on the top step of the podium for the first time in the car’s history, and marked Ford’s first win in IMSA since the 2021 season finale at Petit Le Mans in the now defunct GTLM category. The No. 3 took home second with Daniel Juncadella, the aforementioned Sims and Antonio Garcia sharing time at the helm. The final member of the GTD Pro class podium was Ford’s second car, the pole-award winning No. 64 Mustang of Seb Priaulx, Mike Rockenfeller and NASCAR star Austin Cindric.

The rest of the running order in GTD Pro saw the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW just miss the podium in fourth, followed by the debuting No. 69 GetSpeed Mercedes closing out the top five, following one of the quieter, more consistent races of any team within the class. In sixth place was Ferrari’s lone entrant in GTD Pro, the DragonSpeed No. 81 296 GT3 machine. Corvette Racing’s No. 4 saw its turmoil-filled Sunday end with a seventh-place finish after their late race payback run-in with the No. 48 machine in the race’s final stages.

Trackhouse Racing by TF Sport’s No. 91 Corvette sporting the scars of war late in the running in Daytona. (Photo: Jared Bokanoski | The Podium Finish)

A pair of fan-favorite entries found themselves in late-race scuffles, with AO Racing bringing Rexy home in the eighth position following a damaged front bumper replacement. Meanwhile, NASCAR’s Trackhouse Racing by TF Sport ended the day in the ninth position to close their Rolex 24 efforts after a late race run-in with the No. 18 Era Motorsports LMP2.

Proton Competition rounded out the top ten in their No. 20 Porsche, with Vasser-Sullivan’s No. 14 Lexus finishing the race eleventh after struggles in the closing stages, ahead of the final running car of Paul Miller Racing’s No. 48 BMW.

Multiple key players fell victim to both mechanical issues and on-track mishaps as three entries did not make it to sunrise. Pfaff Motorsports’ No. 9 suffered as collateral in the aforementioned incident with Wayne Taylor Racing, Heart of Racing’s No. 007 Aston Martin retired after losing a wheel in the early running, and 75 Express fell to a cracked oil tank before during Saturday’s running.

AWA drivers Matt Bell, Lars Kern, Marvin Kirchhoefer and Orey Fidani celebrate winning the Rolex 24. (Photo: Jared Bokanoski | The Podium Finish)

In the GTD category, AWA scored the first victory for a Corvette customer outfit in IMSA since the program’s launch at this event a year ago with drivers Matt Bell, Lars Kern, Orey Fidani and Martin Kirchoefer. The team stayed up front for a majority of the running, from when the sun rose on Sunday up until roughly the 22-hour mark when the yellow flag waved.

GTD saw its battle ultimately come down to five key players in the race’s final stanza as AWA was locked in competition with Wright Motorsports’ pole winning No. 120 Porsche, the defending series champion No. 57 Winward Racing AMG, the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin and the Wayne Taylor Racing No. 45 Lamborghini.

Wayne Taylor Racing was the first team to face adversity as suspension woes ultimately forced them to retire the car. During a late-in-the-stages yellow flag, both Wright and Winward found themselves needing to pit for services, setting up for a shootout between the AWA outfit being led to the checkered flag by Matt Bell and The Heart of Racing’s closer Mattia Drudi.

Drudi unleashed a heroic dive to unseat Bell at the top going into the first corner with only 17 minutes remaining on the clock before Bell returned to the lead for the final time. As the pair raced onto the banking later in the lap, Bell secured the position onto the high banks and sailed towards the checkered flag and a place in history.

Joining AWA on the podium was the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of pole winner Elliott Skeer, Adam Adelson, Tom Sargent and Ayhancan Guven, who usurped the third-place finishing Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Tom Gamble, Zach Robichon and Casper Stevenson in the closing stages of the race.

Defending series and Rolex 24 champions Winward Racing comprised of Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje and Lucas Auer, who surmounted one of the most Herculean comebacks imaginable. The team was seven laps down at one point, clawing their way back from an early-stage throttle pedal malfunction which sent them behind the wall.

The Turner Motorsports BMW outfit closed out the top five, followed by the debuting No. 19 van der Steur Racing outfit in sixth, Af Corse’s No. 50 Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO in seventh and the Iron Dames Porsche outfit in eighth. Korthoff Competition, who faced a race-ending penalty in the dying stages of the event, came home ninth, while the retired, but consistently front-running No. 45 closed the top ten. The retired No. 021 Triarsi entry closed the event in 11th, with the final running GTD entry being the No. 34 Conquest Ferrari in 12th.

Out of the 22 entries that showed up to Daytona International Speedway, 12 of them did not make it to see the checkered flag. These included the aforementioned Nos. 45 and 021, as well as Forte Racing’s No. 78 Lamborghini, Lone Star Racing’s No. 80 AMG, the No. 12 Vasser-Sullivan Lexus, and the Ferrari tandem of the Nos. 023 and 21 for Triarsi and Af Corse.

The Gradient Racing Ford Mustang succumbed to a clutch failure during the early stages of the event. Inception Racing’s No. 70 Ferrari, the debuting DXDT Corvette outfit, the No. 47 Cetilar Ferrari, and in what they are calling a “brief hiatus” and final race for Andy Lally, the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin failed to finish.

 

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