The 2025 Roar Before The Rolex 24 came to a close this afternoon with a quiet, Bronze-only test session on the drying Daytona International Speedway surface.
Just 20 cars across three categories – LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD – took part, with United Autosports leading the way with Daniel Goldburg in the #22 ORECA. His best lap was a 1:40.613 75 minutes into the session.
There were multiple improvements late on with the entire field on slick tyres.
George Kurtz in the #04 Crowdstrike ORECA rose to second with a 1:40.858. Nick Boulle, fresh from signing a full Endurance Cup deal with United, put the #2 ORECA third, while Jon Field found time in his final run and ended up fourth with a 1:41.468 from Inter Europol.
In GTD, Anthony McIntosh set the benchmark time in the #19 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, a 1:48.459. Kenny Habul put the #75 75 Express GTD Pro Mercedes second.
After three days of testing, the quickest overall time went to Dries Vanthoor in the #24 BMW Team RLL M Hybrid V8. It was a 1:35.424 during Session 2 on Friday.
In LMP2, it was newly-minted Peugeot Hypercar driver Malthe Jakobsen who set the pace for Crowdstrike Racing by APR.
The Dane’s best tour was a 1:38.673 in Session 1 on Friday. Notably, that time was quicker than the slowest of the GTP drivers – Bryce Aron – whose best lap was a 1:38.713 in the JDC-Miller Porsche.
GTD Pro saw Pfaff Motorsports enjoy a rapid start to life as a Lamborghini customer team. Its #9 Huracan lapped the Speedway in 1:47.626 with Andrea Caldarelli at the controls in Friday’s opening session. That edged out defending champion Laurin Heinrich by a tenth and a half in the AO Racing Porsche.
A Lamborghini also topped GTD across the weekend. Forte’s #78 Huracan managed a 1:48.036 on Saturday morning with Franck Perera installed. That time was marginally quicker than Rahel Frey’s time in the #83 Iron Dames Porsche in the first session of the test by just under half a tenth.
Track action for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship resumes after a three-day break on Thursday. Rolex 24 Free Practice 1 will start at 10:05 am local ahead of Qualifying later that afternoon.
Image courtesy of Andrew Lofthouse
