The 2023 24 Hours of Daytona (formally the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona) was an endurance sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The event was held at Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on January 28–29, 2023. This event was the 61st running of the 24 Hours of Daytona since its inception in 1962, and the first of 11 races across multiple classes in the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as the first of four rounds in the 2023 Michelin Endurance Cup. The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura, driven by Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Hélio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud, took the overall win, but the team was later penalized for tire pressure data manipulation, resulting in penalties, fines and probation for those responsible. This was Meyer Shank's second Rolex 24 win in a row, and their third major endurance race win in four events. The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura finished second overall and scored the most points towards the GTP championship.
Background
NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who built Daytona International Speedway in 1959, conceived of the 24 Hours of Daytona to attract European sports-car endurance racing to the United States and provide international exposure to the speedway. It is informally considered part of the Triple Crown of Endurance Racing, with the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2022. It was the tenth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC, and 61st 24 Hours of Daytona. The 24 Hours of Daytona was the first of eleven scheduled sports car endurance races of 2023 by IMSA, and the first of four races of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC). It took place at the 12-turn, Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida from January 28 to 29.
Entry list
The list of entries for the 24-hour race consisted of 61 cars across five classes, equaling the number from the previous year's race. There were nine entries in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), 10 entries in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), nine entries in LMP3, and 33 entries across both GT Daytona classes, with nine entered in GTD Pro and 24 entered in GTD.
The 2023 24 Hours of Daytona saw the competition debut of LMDh regulations - run as Grand Touring Prototype - as the top class of the series, replacing the previous Daytona Prototype International regulations. Four manufacturers entered the class for its inaugural race. Acura and Cadillac, both present during the DPi era, continued their prototype programs by joining LMDh. Acura, with their ARX-06, entered two cars, one operated by Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, and the other by Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian. Cadillac, with their V-LMDh, entered three cars, two for Chip Ganassi Racing (operating as Cadillac Racing), and one for Whelen Engineering Racing. Also joining the LMDh class are Porsche and BMW. Porsche, entering with their 963, partnered with Team Penske to enter two cars into the race. BMW, entered with the M Hybrid V8, promoted their longtime GT racing partners Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to running their LMDh program.
In the GTD classes, both Porsche and Ferrari had new GT3 spec cars making their debut. Porsche entered with several of the 992 version of the 911 GT3, including with defending GTD Pro champion Pfaff Motorsports and defending GTD race winners Wright Motorsports. Ferrari's 296 GT3 made its competition debut as well, with entered teams including longtime Ferrari customers AF Corse and Risi Competizione.
Roar Before the 24 The qualifying race at the Roar as held in 2021 and 2022 has been removed from the format for 2023.
Daytona 24 relevant activity at the Roar weekend includes load-in, media day, scrutineering, and five (5) practice sessions.
The Roar Before the 24 Tests occurred from January 20 to 22, 2023, with all cars participating in the test.
Practice Five practice sessions preceded the race's start on Saturday: three on Thursday and two on Friday. The first 90-minute session was on Thursday morning while the second session in the afternoon lasted 100 minutes. The third, that evening, lasted 100 minutes; the fourth, on Friday morning, lasted an hour. The fifth session on Friday evening lasted 20 minutes.
The No. 10 Acura of Filipe Albuquerque set the fastest time in opening practice with a time of 1:35.366, 0.266 seconds faster than Earl Bamber's No. 02 Cadillac. Paul-Loup Chatin's No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car led LMP2 with a lap of 1:38.302, followed by Oliver Jarvis's No. 18 Era Motorsport car. Felipe Fraga in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier led LMP3 with a time of 1:42.704. Owen Trinkler was fastest in GTD Pro while Lucas Auer set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars. Auer crashed in turn two head on into the inside wall. He was extracted from his No. 57 Winward Racing car and suffered lumbar injuries. As a result of his injuries, Lucas Auer was forced to miss the rest of the event and Daniel Morad filled in for him.
In the second practice session, Richard Westbrook in the No. 02 Cadillac set the fastest lap with a time of 1:35.185, ahead of the No. 10 Acura of Louis Delétraz. Nicolas Lapierre led LMP2 with a time of 1:38.615. Felipe Fraga was fastest in LMP3 with a time of 1:42.491. Jules Gounon was fastest in GTD Pro while Mikaël Grenier set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars.
The third practice session saw Matt Campbell lap quickest for Porsche Penske Motorsport with a time of 1:35.802, 0.172 seconds ahead of Albuquerque. Cadillac Racing were third and fourth after laps from Alex Lynn and Sébastien Bourdais. Matthieu Vaxivière was fastest in LMP2 in the No. 88 AF Corse car with a time of 1:38.416. The No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier of Rasmus Lindh was fastest in LMP3 with a time of 1:42.559. The GTD Pro class was topped by the #79 Mercedes of Maro Engel while Mikaël Grenier was fastest in GTD.
Alexander Sims led the fourth practice session for Whelen Engineering Racing with a time of 1:35.493. Scott Dixon's No. 01 Cadillac was second fastest followed by Nick Yelloly in the No. 25 BMW. Mikkel Jensen led LMP2 with a time of 1:38.052. Jarett Andretti was fastest in LMP3 with a time of 1:43.191. Jules Gounon was fastest in GTD Pro while Mikaël Grenier set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars.
In the final practice session, Renger van der Zande was fastest for Cadillac Racing with a time of 1:36.742. Alex Lynn was second fastest followed by Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW. The session only saw the GTP cars participate.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Sunday, January 22. Due to heavy rainfall during the previous night's practice sessions and software changes made by IMSA, cars in the GTP class were given an extra 15-minute session prior to the start of qualifying.
Qualifying was broken into four sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, LMP3, GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 20 minutes for the GTP session, and 15 minutes for the LMP2, LMP3 and GTD Pro/GTD sessions. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car while the LMP3 class required a Bronze/Silver Rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, LMP3, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.
The first was for cars in the GTD Pro and GTD classes. Mercedes-AMG cars dominated the session, taking the top four spots overall and claiming pole position in both classes, with the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing entry driven by Maro Engel earning pole in GTD Pro and the No. 57 Winward Racing entry driven by Philip Ellis setting the fastest time among all GTD entries. The best non-Mercedes entry was the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin driven by Ross Gunn. Porsche, with a new rendition of their GT3 car, struggled during qualifying, with their best qualified car being the No. 16 Wright Motorsports entry in 21st position among GTD cars, 2.8 seconds behind the fastest lap.
The second session was for cars in the LMP3 class. Nico Pino qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 33 car for Sean Creech Motorsport, besting Dakota Dickerson in the No. 36 entry from Andretti Autosport.
The third session of qualifying was for cars in the LMP2 class. For this class, IMSA mandated that the driver holding a bronze rating from the FIA (indicating amateur status) on each team qualify the car. Ben Keating qualified on pole driving the No. 52 car for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, with over a second gap to any other car. The session was shortened significantly by two separate incidents the occurred at the same time. John Farano, driving the No. 8 Tower Motorsports entry, crashed heavily at the Le Mans chicane, causing significant damage. At the same time, Fred Poordad, driving the No. 55 Proton Competition entry, crashed at turn 6, causing damage to the front end of his car. For causing the red flag, both the No. 8 and the No. 55 had their best two times from the session deleted.
The final session of qualifying was for the GTP class. The session was the first official session for the new class in IMSA competition. Tom Blomqvist qualified on pole driving the No. 60 car for Meyer Shank Racing, beating Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry by less than one tenth of a second. All cars in the class qualified within one second of the pole time. The session saw one incident when Nick Tandy, driving the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry, crashed at the Le Mans chicane. Tandy had his best two laps from the session deleted for causing a red flag, effectively leaving him with no time set.
Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with .