United Autosports USA has inherited the LMP2 class win in the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona after Tower Motorsports’ car was penalised due to a technical violation.
Tower Motorsports and drivers John Farano, Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Alvarez, and Job van Uitert were demoted to 12th and last in LMP2 after the skid block underneath the car was found to have exceeded the maximum wear rate of five millimetres as prescribed by the FIA Technical Regulations, Article 3.5.6.
DSC suspected that there was some doubt over the LMP2 result after noticing that the Tower ORECA was being held in post-race tech long after the end of the race (below).
A subsequent protest was filed by Tower Motorsports and then denied by IMSA.
The #22 United Autosports ORECA 07 of Daniel Goldburg, Paul di Resta, Rasmus Lindh, and James Allen originally finished 44.697s behind the #8 Tower Motorsports car, but has now been elevated to first place in LMP2 and eighth place overall.
This is United Autosports’ second 24-hour race win in the last eight months, after winning the LMP2 class at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“We came to Daytona with one very clear goal and we have achieved it,” said Richard Dean, United Autosports CEO. “To win the Rolex 24 at Daytona any year is pretty special, but to win it only a few months after celebrating victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours makes it an extra special moment. Zak and I would like to thank the entire team for their dedication and commitment. We can all be very proud of what we have achieved.”
It’s Allen’s second LMP2 win at Daytona in three years, following his famous photo-finish victory as part of Proton Competition in 2023. Goldburg, Di Resta, and Lindh all pick up their first career IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wins at the Daytona 24 Hours.
“The team, the drivers, and I all had a similar feeling on Sunday,” said Goldburg. “We knew we should be pleased with pole and second… but we just weren’t. We had executed the race so well, and made no mistakes … and then a strange penalty took us out of the fight for the lead right at the end. It took about 36 hours for me to come to terms with it, and I did ultimately feel pleased. Then I got the call to say we’ve won it! Wow. Just wow. What a start to the season.”
“It’s massive to have another 24-hour win!” says Di Resta, who also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with United in 2020. “We’ve achieved the two big ones in LMP2 both with United Autosports in the #22… which is a very cool thing to say. It takes relentless dedication.
“We felt very hard done by on race day with the penalty – and after watching the video back, it does feel wrong. But we kept fighting, you fight all the way to the very end. It’s massive for the championship – Daniel Goldburg did a remarkable lap to qualify on pole, and now with what we’ve achieved… it’s just huge.”
“It’s never the way you want to win… But it feels great to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona again!” added Allen. “I can’t thank my teammates enough – Daniel, Paul and Rasmus – as well as the whole team at United Autosports USA for both the opportunity and the hard work and dedication they put into this program. I’m so happy to have shared this victory with them and wish them success for the rest of the championship!”
The #74 Riley ORECA is second in the revised classification, and the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports car completes the podium in LMP2.
This was not the only significant post-race penalty handed down after Sunday’s finish: The #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 was moved to the rear of the GTD class (22nd) for a drive-time violation, as Stevan McAleer had driven more than the maximum four hours in a six-hour period overnight.
Feature image © Jack Webster
