Drawing firm conclusions from the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona is always a dicey proposition.
With IMSA officials keeping a watchful eye on manufacturer disparities, teams also are mindful about showing their hand. Too much flash can be accompanied with the risk of midweek Balance of Performance adjustments that could hinder speed heading into the season opener. That leads to annual allegations of sandbagging in January at Daytona International Speedway.
Sophisticated advancements in measuring power output have quieted some of the outcry. IMSA has been using torque sensors in the Grand Touring Prototype premier category since 2023 and introduced the technology in GT classes this year — which theoretically should limit the efficacy of lollygagging for the Rolex 24.
Yet even for the fastest drivers over the past three days on the 12-turn, 3.56-mile road course, there still were lingering questions about how they stacked up.
“It’s only the Roar and we know a lot of people are sandbagging quite a lot,” No. 25 BMW M Team RLL driver Sheldon van der Linde told the IMSA Wire Service after turning the fastest lap Saturday. “It’s quite clear in the GTD class as well, but for sure, a good way to start the weekend, and the car feels good so that’s positive.
“It’s hard to say what we expected because we didn’t really know where we’d be coming into the Roar. Like I said, everyone is doing something different with their program. So, in the end, it’s very hard to know where we are, but we expected to be a lot stronger than last year and I think that alone really, really shows this year.”
In terms of the speed charts, the two BMW M Hybrid V8 entries of BMW M Team RLL mostly led the way in last weekend’s warmup for the Jan. 25-26 race.
In Friday’s afternoon practice, Dries Vanthoor set the fastest time of the Roar with a 1-minute, 35.424-second lap at 134.306 mph in the No. 24 BMW. In the first two sessions Saturday, van der Linde and Marco Wittman posted the fastest laps in BMW M Team RLL’s No. 25 sister car.
It’s an encouraging sign for BMW, which has struggled most among the four full-time manufacturers in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Grand Touring Prototype since the category was unveiled two years ago.
As Porsche, Acura and Cadillac placed multiple teams on the Rolex 24 podium the past two years, BMW lagged behind with a best finish of sixth in the iconic event.
The results triggered major lineup changes to BMW’s GTP program with only one holdover (Philipp Eng) from last year’s four seasonlong seats.
The full-time newcomers include Vanthoor (who returns with BMW for the Rolex 24, his only IMSA start last year) and van der Linde (who will drive full time in IMSA after racing last year in the World Endurance Championship with BMW).
“It’s good to know that it’s looking good and the steps we’ve done since last year and the evolution we have been working on since we started the project is looking better,” Vanthoor told the IMSA Wire Service. “The guys back at the factory have been working flat out since the finish of the last season.
“We are still far from being there, but it’s thanks to them that it’s all improving. We’ve been testing a lot a trying to improve our issues, so let’s see next week if they pay off or not. That will show if all the work we did was for nothing, or for victory, maybe.”
Said van der Linde: “It’s obviously positive to see that all the hard work we’ve done over the winter this year and through the WEC season last year, we’ve learned a lot, and we’re trying to translate that into America obviously.”
Of course, the competition will be stiff — as evidenced by other showings at the Roar:
—Meyer Shank Racing, which won consecutive Rolex 24s in 2022-23 before being sidelined last year, showed litte rust in its reunion with Acura. The team’s ARX-06s posted the second- and third-fastest laps of the weekend.
—Defending Rolex 24 winner Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 7 963 bested the BMWs in Saturday night’s critical session.
—Lamborghini, which is making its GTP debut with the SC63, was an impressive fourth fastest with IndyCar and Formula One veteran Romain Grosjean.
—Though the Cadillacs were outside the top 10 on the fastest lap chart, the V-Series.R is famous for its reliability over 24 hours, and consistency also is a hallmark of the Wayne Taylor Racing and Whelen Action Express teams.
Weather delays and slick conditions Sunday also made it difficult to gauge the contenders as some teams (such as Porsche Penske Motorsport) elected to park their cars during a session shortened to one hour.
Sunday’s final session featured the LMP2, GTD and GTD Pro categories and also offered some takeaways.
In LMP2, the prototype category pairing pro and amateur drivers, the margin across the top 15 lap times was barely a second.
In GTD Pro, Pfaff Motorsports has looked sporty in its transition to Lamborghini (after racing McLaren and Porsche in recent years), and the upstart entries from Forte Racing (which will feature Parker Kligerman in his Rolex 24 debut) and Iron Dames had the two fastest laps in GTD.
Perhaps the biggest (and most positive) takeaway of the Roar weekend at Daytona: There were no major incidents among the 61-car field, so teams will be able to put their full focus toward qualifying Thursday.
Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona Results
Friday, Jan. 17.
Session 1: Speeds l By Class l Fastest lap sequence l Time cards l Best sector times l Fastest lap by driver and class for weekend
Session 2: Speeds l Combined l By Class l Fastest lap sequence l Time cards l Best sector times l Fastest lap by driver l Fastest lap by driver and class for weekend
Saturday, Jan. 18
Session 3: Speeds l Combined l By Class l Fastest lap sequence l Time cards l Best sector times l Fastest lap by driver l Fastest lap by driver and class for weekend
Session 4: Speeds l Combined l By Class l Fastest lap sequence l Time cards l Best sector times l Fastest lap by driver l Fastest lap by driver and class for weekend
Session 5: Speeds l By Class l Fastest lap sequence l Time cards l Best sector times l Fastest lap by driver l Fastest lap by driver and class for weekend
Sunday, Jan. 19
Session 6: Speeds l By Class l Fastest lap sequence l Time cards l Best sector times l Fastest lap by driver l Fastest lap by driver and class for weekend
Session 7: Speeds l By Class l Fastest lap sequence l Time cards l Best sector times l Fastest lap by driver l Fastest lap by driver and class for weekend
