Thanks to incredible strategy from the KellyMoss with Riley team and the driving savvy of Riley Dickinson, the #91 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 won the BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona – a race that the sponsor seemed destined to win until the start of the final lap.
Kenton Koch’s fuel-saving efforts weren’t enough in the end after assuming the lead with less than ten minutes to go. He’d have to bring the #92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 into the pits before he could take the white flag, ceding the lead to the #91 Porsche which had made its final pit stop with less than an hour to go.
It’s the first Michelin Pilot Challenge wins for the reigning Porsche Carrera Cup North America Champion Dickinson, Michael McCarthy, and Brady Golan.
A late splash-and-go for the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 (Bryce Ward/Daniel Morad) gave Morad a head of steam to take the lead late, but after racing with the leading BMWs, Morad came home second, less than two seconds behind the winning Porsche.
The #46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT3 (Matt Plumb/Owen Trinkler), which led early, would take home a third place finish.
Much of the middle stages were dominated by Turner Motorsport’s two BMWs. But the #95 (Dillon Machavern/Robert Megennis) and the #96 (Francis Selldorff/Robby Foley) would only finish fourth and fifth after being overcut by the Winward Mercedes during their final fuel stops.
In sixth was the #69 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4 (Michael de Quesada/Jesse Lazare).
The newest GT4 models in the GS class both came away with top-ten finishes, with the #59 KOHR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 (Bob Michaelian/Luca Mars) finishing eighth and the #71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 EVO (Frank DePew/Robin Liddell/Andrew Davis) in ninth, overcoming two drive-through penalties along the way to the result.
In the end, Koch and Paul Sparta were 13th in the #92 Random Vandals BMW.
Today’s four-hour race was not a happy affair for the #23 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo (Bubba Wallace/Corey Heim/John Hunter Nemechek). Wallace picked up a puncture in his opening stint as the victim of incidental contact at the International Horseshoe, and the trio of Toyota NASCAR stars didn’t factor in the rest of the race.
Adding insult to two trips behind the wall, the #23 was later placed at the back of the GS class in 27th after Wallace failed to complete his minimum 40 minutes of drive time.
To say nothing of the pole-winning #39 CarBahn Motorsports BMW (Sean McAlister/Jeff Westphal) which had its boot come open on the first lap, and then hit the wall and broke its steering less than half an hour later.
The TCR class produced a miracle winner. Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor had only turned a combined six laps in the #17 JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS 3 LMS during practice and qualifying this week. Constant mechanical issues left them to take desperate measures and call in a replacement ECU from Mexico just to take the start!
But it was that #17 Audi of Miller and Taylor that came away victorious in a race where many favourites hit trouble when it mattered most.
The #55 Gou Racing Audi (Eddie Gou/Eduardo Gou) sprinted to the lead in the opening minutes, only to break down in front of the pursuing pack along the banking.
Just past halfway, defending TCR Champions Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker were cruising until the #33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N sputtered to a halt at turn one just as Wickens was getting in the groove.
And when back-to-back wins at Daytona seemed in reach, the #61 Road Shagger Racing Audi (Gavin Ernstone/Jon Morley) suffered a fatal fuel pump issue with 40 minutes left, just as they’d overcome running out of fuel earlier in the race!
Miller and Taylor took the win, while the #76 BHA Hyundai (Denis Dupont/Preston Brown/Nick Loojimans) held on to finish second as the car ran out of fuel across the finish line.
The #98 BHA Hyundai (Mark Wilkins/Mason Filippi) rounded out the TCR podium in third.
Images © Jake Galstad / IMSA
