When we look back on the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in years to come, the final-hour duel between Felipe Nasr and Tom Blomqvist will surely stand out as the sequence of the race. Two GTP prototypes from two major OEMs being pushed to the limit battling for the lead after the final restart of the race was a sight to behold.
With the #01 Ganassi Cadillac and #10 Wayne Taylor Acura retired, the two BMWs multiple laps down, the privateer Porsches lacking in outright pace and the #40 WTR Acura and #6 Porsche locked in a battle for third, this year’s Rolex became a two-way fight with time expiring.
A quick turnaround in the pits at the final set of stops, held under full-course yellow, gave the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 the upper hand into the final half hour over the #31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R.
Both the #31 and #7 had enjoyed stints in the lead throughout the race, but the way it shook out left Felipe Nasr with the tough task of holding off the Daytona lap-record-setting #31 Cadillac with 2023 Rolex winner Blomqvist behind the wheel.
When the race went green Nasr had to dig deeper than at any point earlier in the race, for he had been given a second chance. Blomqvist had already found a way into the lead in the penultimate hour, muscling past him with 78 minutes to go at Turn 1, executing what looked like the pass that would seal the result.
But it wasn’t meant to be, a fire for the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus brought out a late-race safety car that would turn the tide of the race. Porsche utilised its position on pit road to its advantage, watching the #31 head to pit out, sending the #7 out in front in the final pit lane battle of the race.
“Obviously with Daytona being the way it is, the pit is inverted so they could see where we were and short-fueled to come out ahead,” explained Blomqvist’s teammate Pipo Derani. “At the end of the day, that is part of the game.”
Derani, who will compete all season in the #31 with Jack Aitken, could only watch on with the rest of the team on the pit wall, unable to influence the result. It was agonising.
For Nasr in the lead Porsche, there was no time to stew on the occasion. This final push was about keeping calm after being handed a lifeline. He fully intended to take advantage of it.
“I just kept the focus until the finish line,” he said. “There was a lot of traffic going through, as well, when the 31 was keeping up the pressure. I’m glad it came our way.”
In the end, Nasr, who was visibly faster than Blomqvist on the banking, held the Cadillac at arm’s length by making sensible, decisive moves through traffic. It was a near-perfect drive which Blomqvist could only show respect for after the race. “I think he ran wide once. It was so hard to pass. So hats off to him,” he said.
After his teammates played their part, leading the race and keeping it clean, Nasr drove hard, smart, and remained almost robotic in his execution, even with the confusion at the very end about the timing of the white flag.
“You’ve got to keep on the throttle until it’s over,” Nasr explained when asked about the race seemingly being called a lap earlier than expected. “That’s what Tim Cindric said on the radio. I was confused, too.
“I don’t know if there were two white flags. I don’t know. I really don’t know. I was just focused on each corner, each braking and just clearing traffic and making sure there were no mistakes and taking the car to the end.”
Aitken and Derani, while proud, were (understandably) visibly disappointed by the result.
“It’s a different kind of pain finishing second by that little,” Aitken said to DSC. “We’ve said it many times already this week that we have a lot of confidence in our line-up that we felt comfortable with anybody being in the car for the finish.
It’s a different kind of pain finishing second by that little
“Tom did a great job, and I really thought he possibly secured us the win with the move on Felipe before the yellow.
“Just watching from the sidelines, it’s definitely a bit hard on the nerves. It was still heartwarming to see the reaction in the garage that everyone on the Cadillac crew were able to hold their heads high.
“We’ve come out swinging,” he continued. “So hopefully that is a good indication for the rest of the year. But it definitely stings right now, rightly or wrongly.”
Meanwhile, in the Porshe pit it was jubilation. The 963 had come of age in front of their eyes. One year on from its underwhelming debut at the same venue, Porsche Penske looked like a team transformed, with a car that proved to be both fast and reliable.
“Comparing this year’s Daytona to last year’s Daytona, it was all about just surviving,” reflected Jonathan Diuguid, the managing director of Porsche Motorsports.
“When I say surviving I’m not talking about surviving the race, I’m talking about surviving day-to-day with parts and building the cars and getting the cars on track and it was a monumental effort to do that.
“This year we showed up and I think we looked at each other and said, ‘This is totally different’. We had spares. We have gearboxes. We have everything, and it was all prepared in the workshop in the proper way.
This year we showed up and I think we looked at each other and said, ‘this is totally different’
“I think what you saw today is both cars finished on the lead lap and both cars were very competitive, and that is a huge difference from 12 months ago.
“12 months ago we were competing. We were probably competing to stay on the lead lap, and this year we were putting people laps down and things like that. I think it just goes to show you the steps the programme has taken and the effort that everybody has put in.”
For the 963, this was easily its most significant milestone to this point. Following a year of learning, background development and experimenting, it finally looks like a complete package.
For Porsche, it remains the manufacturer with the most Daytona overall and class wins. 23 overall wins in the race now for the Stuttgart brand, which last won this race back in the DP era in 2010. A long drought ended for Penske in the race too, its last overall triumph way back in 1969.
GTP and Hypercar competitors beware. It feels like Porsche Penske is only just getting started with the 963…
