If the last few editions of the Rolex 24 at Daytona have taught us anything about LMP2, it’s that the road to victory in 2026 won’t be dull!
Think back to three years ago, when LMP2 yielded the closest margin of victory in the 64-year history of this event. Think back only to last year, when several contenders had their dreams of victory dashed over the course of the race – especially late on.
And even when a winner had seemingly escaped the race’s biggest accident and recovered to claim victory, one more dramatic twist in the story would be written days later when Tower Motorsports’ car was stripped of victory, handing it instead to United Autosports USA.
IMSA LMP2 is still a de facto one-make category as it is everywhere else in the world, but it is nonetheless a colourful class of 13 Gibson V8-powered ORECA 07s. Not only in terms of liveries, but excellent teams with proven pedigrees, and compelling drivers of all skill levels.
Established Hypercar drivers from WEC, single-seater standouts from IndyCar and Formula E, and even Formula 1 alumni will take turns sharing their cars with passionate amateur drivers and yet-to-be-proven young guns. It’s the only true Pro/Am class in the Rolex 24, and every driver will play their part in success or failure.
That’s why this race promises to be so eventful.
United Autosports USA
#2: Phil Fayer / Ben Hanley / Hunter McElrea / Mikkel Jensen
#22: Daniel Goldburg / Paul di Resta / Rasmus Lindh / Grégoire Saucy
United Autosports’ 2025 Rolex 24 victory wrote another successful chapter in the Yorkshire-based team’s endurance racing history. By their own admission, winning via post-race penalty wasn’t the way they wanted it to happen.
But the fact is that the #22 car featuring Daniel Goldburg, Paul di Resta, and Rasmus Lindh was the best car that could pass post-race scrutineering, and looking back at their race, they suffered from fewer mistakes and misfortunes than their peers.
The American wing of United Autosports returns to Daytona with two ORECAs filled with strong line-ups, each capable of winning the race, maybe even a one-two finish if all goes well.
Goldburg, Di Resta, and Lindh were a very strong combination throughout the 2025 season, among the best in their respective roles – and we expect the same in Daytona and the rest of 2026. Their new Rolex 24 co-driver, Grégoire Saucy, is being given an opportunity to succeed in his IMSA debut. We’ll see if the young Swiss driver can seize the moment.
The #2 car has been retooled since last year, with only the evergreen LMP2 contender Ben Hanley (a Rolex winner in 2020) returning.
In a package deal, newly-appointed McLaren Hypercar driver Mikkel Jensen and lightning-fast young Kiwi Hunter McElrea come to United from TDS Racing. Jensen has the speed and the pedigree that’s made him a top star in Hypercar. He’s won every big IMSA enduro in LMP2, except Daytona. And in only two years, McElrea has perhaps asserted himself as IMSA’s best “designated Silver”!
Jensen, McElrea, and Hanley are joined by Canadian Bronze Phil Fayer, not a novice to LMP2 racing, but this year’s Daytona will be his first 24-hour endurance race. If the former Atlantic Championship driver can match the pace and consistency of his counterpart Goldburg in the #22, he’ll give his co-drivers every opportunity to win this year’s race.
From either side of the garage, United Autosports USA is a genuine contender to go back-to-back at Daytona.
CrowdStrike Racing by APR
#04: George Kurtz / Alex Quinn / Toby Sowery / Malthe Jakobsen
No team is hungrier to finally free itself from the tethers of Daytona disappointments past than CrowdStrike Racing and Algarve Pro Racing. In three years of IMSA collaboration, CrowdStrike’s George Kurtz and APR’s crew, led by Stewart Cox, have had their chances to win but have come up short. Second twice, including that famous 2023 finish.
Last year, an accident derailed the CrowdStrike car’s bid for victory, and the ensuing season yielded meagre results by the standards they’ve set before.
Now a stakeholder in the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, Kurtz’s passion for racing hasn’t wavered – and he is still an excellent Bronze driver on his day. He’s still as determined as ever to get his first Daytona victory.
Thankfully, Kurtz has a crew of three amazing young drivers alongside him: The exceptionally-talented Malthe Jakobsen is always one to watch when he’s behind the wheel, whether it’s in a Peugeot 9X8 or an ORECA LMP2. Toby Sowery maintains that standard as a solid young Silver driver.
And Alex Quinn has made major waves with APR over in Europe, so much so that he’s caught the eye of Peugeot just as Jakobsen did before him. He’s already had success in IMSA elsewhere, but can he be the missing piece that CrowdStrike by APR needs to win this race? Only time will tell…
Tower Motorsports
#8: John Farano / Sébastien Bourdais / Sebastián Álvarez / Kyffin Simpson
Tower Motorsports worked hard and put together a winning race in last year’s Rolex 24, despite a few near-misses with disaster. In the end, it was all for naught. A worn skid block (the consequence of an honest mechanical issue late in the race) caused the #8 car to fail post-race scrutineering and stripped the team of its win after the chequered flag.
It won’t be easy, but hope still remains that the Tower crew, led by team manager Rick Capone, can redeem itself a year later.
They’ve kept the trio of John Farano, Sebastián Álvarez, and two-time Rolex 24 winner (once overall, and once in GTLM) Sébastien Bourdais together. Hopes of victory will rest on Farano staying steady behind the wheel early doors.
Bourdais is still as capable behind the wheel as he’s ever been in his hall-of-fame-worthy career, and Álvarez has had flashes of excellence before. Kyffin Simpson, meanwhile, returns to the Rolex 24 with Tower. He’s coming off a much-improved second season in IndyCar where he looked more like the championship-winning LMP2 phenom of recent years than he did in his rookie year.
If Tower finds itself near the front late in the race, there’s every chance they can make things right and keep the money and the watches they’ve won.
TDS Racing
#11: Tobias Lütke / Mathias Beche / David Heinemeier Hansson / Charles Milesi
It’s almost all change at TDS Racing in IMSA this year, from the livery to the line-up of the black and green #11 car. The French squad has won back-to-back Michelin Endurance Cups and has always had fast cars at Daytona, but no luck getting to the flag without major issues.
Alpine Hypercar driver and reigning European Le Mans Series LMP2 champion Charles Milesi is the only returning driver from last year’s Rolex 24 entry at TDS. And the fleet young Frenchman has once again given the team some confidence going into race weekend, after recording the quickest time during preliminary testing.
In a package deal, Shopify’s Tobi Lütke and longtime business ally David Heinemeier Hansson have come over from Era Motorsport, in a move motivated by Lütke’s desire to race at Le Mans, while established LMP2 stalwart Mathias Beche, a tough customer behind the wheel, comes in after a podium finish in last year’s Rolex 24.
Lütke left lots of room for improvement throughout his first season of LMP2 racing, and running clean stints early on will be so critical as he tries to succeed his predecessor Steven Thomas. “DHH” is a throwback to a different breed of Silver drivers, and what he may lack in pure pace, he now makes up for in experience.
We’ll see if these changes yield a better result for TDS than in recent years.
Era Motorsport
#18: Naveen Rao / Ferdinand Habsburg / Jacob Abel / Logan Sargeant
Two-time Rolex 24 LMP2 winners Era Motorsport have completely restructured their driving line-up for the 2026 season, including Daytona, where Kyle Tilley’s squad won in 2021 and 2024. They arrive at this year’s Rolex 24 with three Daytona rookies.
There’s a lot of star power around Bronze driver Naveen Rao, an American who built his racing foundation domestically but has gained most of his P2 experience abroad. He’ll have a tough challenge measuring up to IMSA’s best Bronzes, though.
Of course, the biggest name in the line-up is Formula 1 alumnus Logan Sargeant, making his Rolex 24 debut as the newest addition to the Ford Racing factory driver line-up. Daytona will be the start of a new chapter for the former Williams driver, with renewed vigour for racing and a point to prove about what he’s truly capable of. Early returns in LMP2 suggest that he’s up for the challenge!
Also seeking racing redemption is Jacob Abel, who’s come to Daytona after a frustrating rookie year in IndyCar. He’s gotten some LMP2 experience in the Asian Le Mans Series – and is a true gentleman among his peers in the sport.
Ferdinand Habsburg brings the high-level prototype experience, including WEC and Le Mans success. With the absence of longtime Era mainstay Ryan Dalziel from the field, Habsburg will be counted on to provide the leadership needed to push this team towards contention for a third Rolex 24 win.
Intersport Racing
#37: Jon Field / Oliver Jarvis / Job van Uitert / Seth Lucas
The return of Jon Field’s Intersport Racing team, a mainstay of American Le Mans Series days gone by, was one of the surprises of the 2026 IMSA off-season. And for fans of a certain vintage, it’s a welcome surprise.
It also showed that Field’s shocking return to the Rolex 24 last year, following a long absence, was never meant to be a one-off. Instead of vanishing as quickly as he returned following his dismissal from Inter Europol Competition, he returns to Daytona with a purpose and a vision.
For Intersport’s return, Field has surrounded himself with an experienced line-up.
2022 Rolex 24 overall winner Oliver Jarvis and talented Dutchman Job van Uitert both give Intersport serious credibility, and two very quick drivers capable of delivering the goods as the race progresses. Seth Lucas returns to the category, yet to prove himself at this level, but still with time on his side to improve.
This effort was scrambled together just in time to hit the track for the November IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona, but it’s been full-speed ahead ever since, and their performance at the Roar Before The 24 was pretty solid considering the rush.
What sort of result Intersport can put together isn’t entirely clear. But even if it’s nothing like the old ALMS days, perhaps the opening laps can conjure up some fond memories of Field’s heyday.
Inter Europol Competition
#43: Tom Dillmann / Bijoy Garg / António Félix da Costa / Jeremy Clarke
#343: Jakub Śmiechowski / Georgios Kolovos / Nolan Siegel / Nick Cassidy
Inter Europol Competition has massively transformed itself into a powerhouse of LMP2 racing on multiple continents, and a successful venture into IMSA has only reinforced the Polish Bakers’ newfound excellence.
Having conquered their domain at Sebring and Le Mans last year, Inter Europol brings two cars to the Rolex 24 in an attempt to complete an endurance triple crown in just a little over ten months. Between the two cars, they have five drivers who’ve recently won LMP2 at Le Mans, with this squad and others.
First there’s Inter Europol’s full-season entry, the #43, featuring the very potent trio of Jeremy Clarke, Bijoy Garg, and team ace Tom Dillmann. Clarke, in particular, was impressive from the moment he jumped into LMP2s out of Ferrari Challenge, establishing himself as a premier Bronze driver in the class.
Dillmann and Da Costa reinforced their speed and talent with solid testing times in the Roar, making the #43 car a favourite to win.
But the one-off #343 car is fascinating in its own right. It features team principal and heritage driver Jakub “Kuba” Śmiechowski, it features an underrated new Bronze talent in Georgios “George” Kolovos, and two high-profile talents in Nick Cassidy and Nolan Siegel.
Cassidy has been a winner at every stop of his career, from SUPER GT and Super Formula to Formula E. Gearing up for his WEC Hypercar debut with Peugeot in March, he’ll be one to watch. So too is Siegel, who hopes a strong Rolex 24 performance will spark a renewal in confidence going into a make-or-break 2026 IndyCar season.
There’s a lot to like from both Inter Europol cars, two strong contenders for the victory.
Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen
#52: Misha Goikhberg / Ben Keating / Parker Thompson / Harry Tincknell
For the second time in three years, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports enters a partnership with another established team for a joint entry in IMSA. This time, it’s with Bryan Herta Autosport, a team that’s won the Indianapolis 500, and has lately been the dominant force in the Michelin Pilot Challenge’s TCR class with Hyundai.
Team owner and namesake Herta has not been coy about his desire to step into GTP, and a step up to LMP2 with PR1 will hopefully bring the team one step closer to its goal.
Like last year, the #52 is the only car in LMP2 with two Bronze drivers – it didn’t stop PR1 from crashing the LMP2 podium in 2025, though! Bronze drivers don’t get much better than Ben Keating, a former GTD class winner at Daytona in a Dodge Viper, and still regarded as the finest amateur racer of this generation.
Keating brings the Wynn’s purple and orange to his 15th Rolex 24, while Misha Goikhberg, back in a prototype after many years in GTs, will be the full-season anchor. Like Keating, he’s a previous Rolex winner.
Aston Martin’s Harry Tincknell is a proven winner at many levels, and an outstanding addition to the team. As is former Vasser Sullivan Racing driver Parker Thompson, whose first foray into LMP2 represents a new but welcome challenge for the talented young Canadian.
It all adds up to an intriguing entry that, even with “only” two pro drivers, has the resources and the people to challenge for victory in the later stages.
Pratt Miller Motorsports
#73: Pietro Fittipaldi / Manuel Espirito Santo / Chris Cumming / Enzo Fittipaldi
This is Pratt Miller Motorsports’ second year of racing in LMP2. In 2025, much was promised given Pratt Miller’s racing pedigree, but this new challenge proved to be tougher than expected as the black and orange #73 car struggled for results. But this is a new year, and heading into the Rolex 24, this car looks like a potential class winner.
The big story in this car is the opportunity for third-generation drivers and brothers, Pietro and Enzo Fittipaldi, to share a car for the first time. The grandsons of Emerson, and the first cousins (once removed) of three-time Rolex 24 winner Christian, are enjoying the moment.
Pietro, the elder brother, has accumulated many more miles of endurance racing experience than Enzo, but Enzo is capable of being as quick, if not more so. The younger brother was teammates with dynamic young Portuguese driver Manuel Espirito Santo in last year’s ELMS, and Espirito Santo is also really looking forward to his Daytona debut. All three of them were among the fastest drivers in the category during the Roar.
Once a regular of the American circuit, Chris Cumming spent last year getting back in the swing of racing, and now in his second year with Pratt Miller, he’ll be counted on to take another step forward.
There’s very big potential that after a first season filled with growing pains, Pratt Miller can start year two of its LMP2 project with a signature victory, headlined by another generation of the Fittipaldi dynasty making its mark at Daytona.
AF Corse USA
#83: François Perrodo / Matthieu Vaxivière / Nicklas Nielsen / Dylan Murry
Best known as Ferrari’s prolific sports car racing team, winners of three straight Le Mans 24 Hours, AF Corse has also enjoyed great success around the world in LMP2 competition thanks in part to regular customer François Perrodo.
Perrodo is the anchor of what is, for now, a one-off LMP2 return for AF Corse USA, running out of the team’s American headquarters in Miami. This was a team that was in line to contend for victory late in last year’s Rolex 24, until an engine problem dashed their hopes of victory.
2024 Le Mans overall winner Nicklas Nielsen is a star attraction in this white and blue #83 ORECA, among the very best Hypercar drivers with Ferrari. Together with former Alpine Endurance Team driver Matthieu Vaxivière, they have two terrific drivers who can be trusted to push the team towards the front as the race goes on.
Completing the line-up is young journeyman Dylan Murry, getting another chance with AF Corse as the Silver in this crew.
Highly motivated to avenge last year’s near miss and with Perrodo as the driving force behind this effort, AF Corse has two chances to finally win the Rolex 24 for the first time as a team, in two different classes – and this LMP2 has a great chance to do just that.
AO Racing
#99: PJ Hyett / Dane Cameron / Jonny Edgar / Christian Rasmussen
2025 was the year in which AO Racing’s “Spike the Dragon” came of age. Almost no challenge put in front of owner/driver PJ Hyett and co-driver Dane Cameron was left unconquered. They dominated LMP2 Pro/Am at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They kicked on the afterburners in the summer to take the IMSA and ELMS titles.
The gold scales that Spike wears at Daytona this year reflect the incredible success that AO Racing has achieved last year, whether on their own in IMSA, or with TF Sport in Europe. But there is one pain point that Hyett, team principal Gunnar Jeannette, and everyone at AO Racing would like to heal, and that’s Daytona.
LMP2 ended with several teams in a frenzy trying to win, but with two hours left, AO Racing was firmly in control. Then the battery gave out, and with it, went their hopes of winning the Rolex 24. It meant that AO Racing had to wait many months to finally win its first LMP2 race at Le Mans.
12 months later, Spike has returned as a strong favourite to win. AO Racing has kept all four of its drivers from last year’s Rolex 24. With the way IMSA rules are, it limits how much a Bronze driver’s contributions can factor into the final results – but if any amateur driver is capable of taking a race over, it’s PJ, now the out-and-out best Bronze LMP2 driver on the planet. Speed, consistency, passion – he has it all.
Cameron’s accomplishments – five IMSA titles and the 2024 Rolex 24 overall victory – need little exposition. He’s still incredibly capable at the wheel and hungry to get his second watch. And then there’s the rest of the line-up, with super Silver Jonny Edgar back in his role and capable of fighting it out with the very best. Christian Rasmussen, now a winner in IndyCar, is “Mr. Excitement” – he won LMP2 in ’24 and was devastatingly quick here last year.
Daytona could be the latest in an avalanche of major LMP2 victories for AO and Spike, if their car holds up, they could repeat, or even improve on last year’s dominant form.
Images © IMSA
