Acura Meyer Shank Racing will now start on pole position for the 64th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona after the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R failed post-qualifying technical inspection.
The #31 Cadillac was found to have exceeded the allowable wear on the rear skid block, stripping Jack Aitken of the pole and moving him to the rear of the 11-car GTP field.
It means that the #93 Acura ARX-06 will start on pole, and Renger van der Zande will be awarded the Motul Pole Award, his first at Daytona since 2018 when he drove for Wayne Taylor Racing. Van der Zande’s lap time of 1:34.041 originally put him second on the grid in the red and black #93 Acura.
Instead, van der Zande, Nick Yelloly, Alex Palou, and Kakunoshin Ohta will start on the pole position, sharing the front row with the #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R – Louis Delètraz set a 1:34.069 to at least keep one Cadillac on the front row for the start of the race on Saturday.
Two-time and defending Rolex 24 winner Felipe Nasr set a 1:34.183 to put the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 third on the grid in his quest for a Daytona three-peat.
In fourth was Tom Blomqvist in the #60 MSR Acura, then Kévin Estre in the #6 Penske Porsche, Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 WTR Cadillac – and Nico Pino, a surprising seventh, in the #85 JDC-Miller MotorSports 963.
Dries Vanthoor, last year’s pole winner, was only eighth in the #24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8, followed by teammate Marco Wittmann in the #25 BMW – who recovered from an early spin at the first corner.
Ross Gunn now rounds out the top ten in the #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie.
Jeremy Clarke stole the show in the all-Bronze LMP2 qualifying session, taking the pole for the Inter Europol Competition’s #43 ORECA 07-Gibson shared with Tom Dillmann, António Félix da Costa, and Bijoy Garg.
With five minutes left, it looked as if PJ Hyett in the gold-plated #99 AO Racing ORECA would take the pole when he set a 1:39.960s. But seconds later, Clarke was able to edge ahead by only eight milliseconds, setting a 1:39.952s, putting him and Inter Europol on the pole position at Daytona for the first time, in Clarke’s first Rolex 24.
Behind Hyett in second, 2025 LMP2 winner and polesitter Daniel Goldburg qualified third in the #22 United Autosports USA car with a 1:40.096s. Ben Keating, despite an early spin, was fourth-fastest in the Wynn’s-liveried #52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen car.
Tobias Lütke in the #11 TDS Racing car rounded out the top five in class, ahead of Georgios “George” Kolovos in the second Inter Europol car, the #343.
Reigning GTD PRO champion Alexander Sims put Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ #3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on the class pole position at Daytona for the first time since 2022.
Sims, sharing the #3 Corvette with Antonio García and Marvin Kirchhöfer, went to the top of the board with less than five minutes left, setting the quickest time in GTD PRO with a 1:45.106s.
Sims and Nick Tandy previously won the pole in 2022 when grid positions were determined during a qualifying race at the Roar Before The 24.
He was two-tenths clear of Neil Verhagen, who had originally qualified second in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO. But in a separate infringement, the #1 BMW will be sent to the rear of the field for exceeding the maximum amount of camber allowed.
The #59 RLL Team McLaren 720S GT3 EVO was a great surprise – it will now start second after originally qualifying third in the hands of Dean MacDonald. The McLaren factory driver set a 1:45.425s, beating several more established contenders in the class.
Maro Engel qualified third in the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, followed by Alessio Rovera in the #033 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in fourth, and defending class winner Frédéric Vervisch, who was fifth in the #65 Ford Racing Mustang GT3.
Of note, the two GTD PRO Porsche 911 GT3 Rs qualified 14th and 15th – Manthey’s #911 “Grello” car ahead of AO Racing’s “Rexy” – they’ll at least move up from the very bottom of the class grid after the #1 BMW’s penalty.
And in a closely-contested GTD session, Zacharie Robichon won the pole for the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, the team which won this race in 2023, with co-drivers Eduardo Barrichello, Tom Gamble, and Mattia Drudi.
Robichon set the early benchmark with a 1:45.113s to take provisional pole, and the Canadian driver, who won GTD in 2022, stayed on top until the chequered flag. It’s Aston Martin’s first GTD pole at Daytona since 2015.
Philip Ellis and Robby Foley posted their flying laps late: Ellis in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG qualified second with a 1:45.187s, and Foley, after a suspected puncture during his initial warm-up laps, recovered to post a 1:45.265s and put the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW third on the GTD grid.
Charlie Eastwood qualified fourth in the #36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet, less than two-tenths behind Robichon’s pole time. Valentin Hasse-Clot (#19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin) qualified in fifth, ahead of AF Corse USA’s Antonio Fuoco in the #21 Ferrari.
Defending GTD winner Orey Fidani, will start 16th in class in the 13 Autosport Corvette. Fidani was one of six Bronze drivers that elected to run in qualifying and start the race on Saturday.
Official night-time practice starts tonight at 6:15 PM EST (local time).
Images © Jack Webster / Dailysportscar.cod
