At the end of 2022, the FIA World Endurance Championship retired its competitive and popular GTE Pro category in favour of a single GTE Am class – and in 2024, a GT3 successor category that will require pro-am driver crews and emphasize non-factory teams.
However, in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, there is still an all-pro GT category for fans of the sport to enjoy. GT Daytona Pro (GTD Pro for short) returns for its second season, the successor to the GTE-based GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. No matter what ruleset it’s been run to since the 2014 unification, the all-pro GT class has often produced some of the best racing at the Daytona 24 Hours.
One only has to look as far back as last year’s epic finish between Porsche teams Pfaff Motorsport and KCMG for an example. The image of the two cars clashing through the Bus Stop (apologies, Le Mans Chicane), Laurens Vanthoor spinning through the grass as Mathieu Jaminet drove on to victory for Pfaff, will live long in the memory for anyone who saw it unfold in real-time.
That’s an immensely tough act for GTD Pro to follow in 2023, but the ten entries in this year’s field are up for the task.
Eight different makes and models are represented – including the all-new Ferrari 296 GT3, the latest 992 generation Porsche 911 GT3 R, and the vastly upgraded Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (and they’ll all be well-represented in GTD ‘Standard’ too).
#3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD: Antonio García and Jordan Taylor (Full season), Tommy Milner (IMEC)
Corvette Racing are the standard bearers of contemporary GT endurance racing. Throughout their history they’ve recorded four Rolex 24 wins, including an overall victory in 2001.
Times are changing, and Corvette Racing as we know them are changing with it. This will be the last Rolex 24 for the converted C8.R GTD before a purpose-built Corvette Z06 GT3 debuts in 2024.
García and Taylor won consecutive GTLM championships together in 2020, and in 2021, a year that began with a class victory at Daytona. Both full-time drivers share virtually identical Rolex 24 records: Three class wins, in 15 consecutive starts since 2008. The Spaniard won the race overall in ’09, while the fan-favourite Taylor is a two-time overall winner in 2017 and 2019. This is their fourth season as teammates at Corvette Racing – last year, they won the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Joining them for three quarters of the Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC) is 2016 GTLM class winner Milner, who will split this limited racing menu in 2023 with a full-time schedule as the lead test driver of the new Z06 GT3.
The combined accolades of García, Taylor, and Milner add up to seven Rolex watches and 11 full-season championships, including those won in the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am.
#9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992): Klaus Bachler and Patrick Pilet (Full season), Laurens Vanthoor (IMEC)
The winners of that legendary duel in Daytona one year ago are back for another shot at GTD Pro honours. Toronto’s Pfaff Motorsports enter 2023 aiming for their third consecutive IMSA championship title after GTD top honours in 2021, and the inaugural GTD Pro championship last season.
Their famous red and black plaid colours now adorn the new 992-gen Porsche 911 GT3 R, with its larger, 4.2 litre flat-six engine and a slew of quality of life improvements.
And that’s not all that’s changed – Pfaff will have their third different full-time driver combination in as many years to lead them this year.
Bachler, a veteran of seven previous Rolex 24s, will race full-time in IMSA for the first time in his career. He has a pair of top-five GTD finishes to his name. 2014 GTLM class winner and 2015 champion Pilet was part of the KCMG crew that Pfaff defeated last year.
And so too was Vanthoor, the 2021 GTD champion returning to Pfaff for the IMEC rounds – and seeking his personal Daytona redemption. In six previous starts, he’s had three podiums in class. But Daytona is still one of the few races he’s yet to win in his storied career.
#14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth (Full season), Mike Conway (Rolex 24)
Vasser Sullivan Racing ensure that the aging yet effective Lexus RC F GT3 will still have a place in the highest levels of GT3 competition. In their first season in GTD Pro, the number 14 Lexus finished second in the championship.
They have an unchanged line-up for this full-season GTD Pro team in 2023: Barnicoat is back for his second full season in IMSA, and Hawksworth, a past winner at Daytona – in the 2020 WeatherTech 240 – has been part of Lexus’ IMSA efforts since they began in 2017. They finished fourth at Daytona last year in this car, and ended the season with a pole-to-win victory at Petit Le Mans.
Two-time World Endurance champion and 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Conway finished second overall in the 2018 Rolex 24 during his time as a Cadillac DPi “ringer”. Representing Toyota Gazoo Racing, this is Conway’s first-ever race in a GT3 car.
#23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas (Full season), David Pittard (Rolex 24)
The Heart of Racing Team have raised over $10 million USD in support of Seattle Children’s Hospital since they were founded as Team Seattle in 1997. They return with a dual-class effort of their own – their GTD Pro car is the number 23 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3.
After crashing out of last year’s Rolex 24, Gunn and Riberas turned the corner later in the season with wins at Long Beach and Watkins Glen. They’re back for their second season together, each driver aiming for their first Daytona victory – which would also be a long-awaited first for Aston Martin, who only got their first podium finish at Daytona last year.
Pittard will run the Michelin Endurance Cup for Heart of Racing after making his Daytona debut one year ago.
#53 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R: Mark Kvamme and Jan Magnussen (IMEC), Trenton Estep and Jason Hart (Rolex 24)
MDK Motorsports is the new team launched by Mark Kvamme, the man who’s now racked up starts in every IMSA series, and has been racing at Daytona for a decade.
It was just announced on Wednesday that they would be moving up to GTD Pro for Daytona, hoping to take advantage of the lighter minimum drive time of two hours (versus four hours and 30 minutes in GTD).
This new team recruited serious talent to join their ranks in their first ever Rolex 24 entry: Estep arrives as a Porsche North American Selected Driver after a strong run in Carrera Cup NA before anchoring MDK’s first full-time effort in SRO America. Jan Magnussen won the GTLM class for Corvette Racing in 2015, and won consecutive series titles in 2017-18 – this is his first Rolex 24 in three years.
Jan was meant to share this car with his son, Haas F1 Team driver Kevin. The younger Magnussen had to have surgery on his hand and wrist, forcing him to miss out on a third chance to share a car with his father in an endurance race. In K-Mag’s place, Jason Hart – the reigning back-to-back GT4 America Pro-Am champion – will run the Rolex 24 for the first time in nine years.
#62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3: James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon (Rolex 24, IMEC driver line-up TBD)
On the 25th anniversary of their first race, Houston’s own Risi Competizione will return to Daytona with the Oreca-built Ferrari 296 GT3. Powered by a three-litre, turbocharged V6 engine, the new 296 GT3 also boasts the improved aerodynamics one would expect from a new race car, built in close collaboration with the road going 296 GTB.
Giueppe Risi’s famous squad will begin another season in the Michelin Endurance Cup at Daytona, before returning for Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Road Atlanta. For Daytona, they’ve retained the same crew of four drivers that finished second in last year’s race.
They include new Ferrari hypercar drivers Pier Guidi and Calado, the final GTE Pro champions in WEC, and reigning Michelin Endurance Cup champions Rigon and Serra, both major players in Ferrari’s GT programmes for at least another year.
Pier Guidi is the only one of the trio that has won the Rolex 24, a GTD class winner in 2014. Rigon has finished second in class twice, as has Calado. Risi as a team have four podiums in their class, but haven’t achieved a victory since 2002. Could that long drought conclude this weekend?
#63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2: Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli, and Mirko Bortolotti (IMEC), Jordan Pepper (Rolex 24)
In just five years, Iron Lynx have gone from startup team to a known powerhouse in GT racing. 2023 marks the first year of a new alliance between Iron Lynx and Lamborghini: They’ll have the honour of debuting the new Huracán GT3 EVO2, complete with its revised brake system, latest aerodynamic changes – and that striking air intake on the roof.
The GTD Pro number 63 car is the tip of the spear for Iron Lynx’s first time at Daytona, which is another Michelin Endurance Cup entry.
Tenured Lamborghini Squadra Corse drivers Caldarelli and Bortolotti already know their way to Victory Lane at Daytona. Bortolotti won GTD in consecutive years from 2018-19, and Caldarelli added his name to the roll of honour in 2020.
Former F1 standout and current IndyCar driver Grosjean is one of the newest additions to the Lamborghini family, and makes his Daytona debut. He’ll join Caldarelli and Bortolotti for the IMEC races – while Pepper, another brand new Lamborghini works driver, takes part in this event for the second time after helping Inception Racing to the IMEC title in GTD “Classic” last year.
#64 TGM/TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Ted Giovanis, Hugh Plumb, Matt Plumb and Owen Trinkler (Rolex 24)
Team TGM begin a new partnership with Aston Martin this year, and for their third start at Daytona, they’re joining forces with TF Sport, last year’s WEC GTE Am champions.
Team owner Giovanis, his Michelin Pilot Challenge co-driver Trinkler, and racing brothers Hugh and Matt Plumb (who also race together in MPC) are the drivers for a third consecutive year – two Bronze, and two Silver drivers.
But instead of competing in the pro-am GTD category, they’re running in GTD Pro in a move that was planned weeks in advance of the race to take advantage of the lighter minimum drive time rules.
With only nine other competitors in class – if they simply finish the race, they could match or improve on the seventh place finish they had last year!
#79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella (Full season), Maro Engel (IMEC), Cooper MacNeil (Rolex 24)
WeatherTech Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 changed drivers, classes, and numbers all throughout 2022. The plan for 2023 is to stay grounded in GTD Pro, with a star-studded crew fronted by Mercedes-AMG factory stars, and the same crew of drivers for the Rolex 24.
Since retiring from last year’s race with an engine failure, Gounon has won Bathurst, Spa, Kyalami, the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup – and changed his nationality from French to Andorran. Likewise, Juncadella has now won Spa, Indianapolis, and the Intercontinental GT Challenge title (he is still very much Spanish).
The full season pair of Gounon and Juncadella are joined by 2021 GTD class winner Engel, who gave Mercedes their first-ever Rolex 24 victory – and won them the pole in GTD Pro this past weekend.
And MacNeil returns to run Daytona, but will be running a limited schedule as he shifts towards the management side of WeatherTech Racing, who are supported by Proton Competition.
#95 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3: Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull (Full season), John Edwards (IMEC), Bruno Spengler (Rolex 24)
Will Turner’s fan-favourite team will enter two BMW M4 GT3s in IMSA this season. One of them, the grey and blue number 95, will split time between GTD in the Sprint Cup, and GTD Pro in the Endurance Cup rounds including Daytona.
BMW racing legend Bill Auberlen is making his 33rd Rolex 24 at Daytona appearance. He added IMSA career victory number 65 to his CV last year at Mid-Ohio, extending his all-time record for most wins in the series. But would you believe that it’s been 25 years since the last time Auberlen won his class at the Rolex 24?
His new teammate for 2023 is Dallas native Hull, who will make his Rolex 24 and full-time IMSA debut after racing in GT World Challenge America last season for his first GT3 action.
Two BMW factory drivers round out the number 95 Turner BMW’s crew: Taking the team up to GTD Pro for the IMEC rounds is 2020 GTLM class winner Edwards, and past DTM champion Spengler – just named recently to a drive in the SUPER GT Series in Japan – will run this race for the sixth time, he was runner-up in 2015.
Images © Martin W. Spetz, Andrew “Skippy” Hall, Joe Martin
