How the GTP manufacturers fared in the 'Roar before the 24'

rewrite this content and keep HTML tags

The ‘Roar’ test for the 24 Hours of Daytona was dominated by Porsche. All three 963s secured at least one session-best time, including the private JDC-Miller Porsche running last year’s spec.

The remaining session best times went to the #24 WRT BMW and the #10 WTR Cadillac.

GTP cars participated in six of the seven sessions, as the final one was reserved for Bronze-rated drivers. In the cumulative standings sessions all three Porsches occupy the top three spots:

Cumulative GTP Overall Results (Fastest Lap):

Penske Porsche #7 (Nasr/Andlauer/Heinrich) – 1m36.327s (Session 1)
JDC-Miller Porsche #85 (Pino/Frederick/van der Helm) +0.004 sec (Session 1)
Penske Porsche #6 (L. Vanthoor/Estre/Campbell) +0.108 (Session 1)
WTR Cadillac #10 (R. Taylor/Albuquerque/Stevens) +0.404 (Session 4)
WRT BMW #24 (S. van der Linde/D. Vanthoor/Frijns/Rast) +0.415 (Session 2)
WTR Cadillac #40 (J. Taylor/Deletraz/Herta) +0.574 (Session 1)
Action Express Cadillac #31 (Aitken/Bamber/Vesti/Zilisch) +0.659 (Session 4)
WRT BMW #25 (Marciello/Eng/Wittmann/Magnussen) +0.820 (Session 4)
Meyer Shank Acura #60 (Blomqvist/Braun/Dixon/Allmendinger) +0.968 (Session 3)
HRC Acura #93 (van der Zande/Yelloly/Palou/Ohta) +1.017 (Session 4)
THOR Aston Martin #23 (Gunn/de Angelis/Riberas) +1.202 (Session 3)

Porsche made its mark as early as the very first session on Friday. The lap times in the low 1m36s range would prove enough to secure the top three spots in the overall standings.

All laptimes were achieved in race trim, as 1m34ss or even 1m33s are expected for qualifying.

Long-run analysis: Porsche outpaces rivals

Consistency is, of course, way more important than single lap times. To keep it simple, we have factored in all laps from all sessions completed under 1m40s.

Since slower cars naturally recorded more laps in the 1m40s range than the fast ones, the gaps here tend to be rather underestimated – rather than overestimated. Nevertheless, a clear picture emerges:

Penske Porsche #7: 1m38.095s (113 laps under 1:40)
Penske Porsche #6: +0.096 (119 laps)
WTR Cadillac #10: +0.358 (125 laps)
JDC Miller Porsche #85: +0.372 (99 laps)
WTR Cadillac #40: +0.382 (120 laps)
WRT BMW #24: +0.397 (162 laps)
Meyer Shank Acura #60 (Blomqvist/Braun/Dixon/Allmendinger) +0.439 (111 laps)
HRC Acura #93 (van der Zande/Yelloly/Palou/Ohta) +0.528 (128 laps)
Action Express Cadillac #31 (Aitken/Bamber/Vesti/Zilisch) +0.567 (169 laps)
WRT BMW #25 (Marciello/Eng/Wittmann/Magnussen) +0.627 (138 laps)
THOR Aston Martin #23 (Gunn/de Angelis/Riberas) +0.835 (36 laps)

The Aston Martin missed Sessions 3 and 4 due to an engine change and therefore recorded very few representative laps.

Both Acura ARX-06s missed large parts of the first session due to unspecified minor issues but gained momentum afterwards.

Porsche clearly dictates the pace in the long runs. The two Penske factory cars have significantly pulled away at the front.

The strong performance of the privately entered JDC-Miller Porsche in 2025 spec comes as a surprise. It shows that Porsche clearly had the upper hand during the pre-test.

To put the times into perspective: Felipe Nasr’s 1m36.327s would have only ranked seventh-fastest in the 2025 Daytona 24 Hours.

That means there is still room for improvement, especially since Cadillac and Acura received better power-to-weight ratios in both speed ranges and Porsche in the high-speed range compared to last year’s BoP.

Furthermore, the updates to all four LMDh cars certainly haven’t made them any slower.

Cadillac has established itself as the second-strongest force with both cars. The #24 WRT BMW and #60 MSR Acura are also within a tenth of a second of the third-placed Cadillac in terms of average lap times.

Of course, WRT had to use the test sessions to get started in IMSA competition. The new-for 2026 factory outfit should be granted a bit of a “rookie bonus” for the race weekend.

Aston Martin, on the other hand, seems to be struggling. The engine change resulted in a significant loss of track time, but the gap to the other manufacturers is substantial.

Top 20 per cent laps: Cadillac closes in

With the 24 Hours of Daytona often being decided in a sprint to the finish, we also took a look at the fastest 20 percent of all lap times under 1m40s. The result largely confirms the previous observations:

Penske Porsche #6 – 1m37.135s
JDC Miller Porsche #85 +0.102 sec
WTR Cadillac #10 +0.133
Penske Porsche #7 +0.177
WTR Cadillac #40 (J. Taylor/Deletraz/Herta) +0.341
WRT BMW #24 (S. van der Linde/D. Vanthoor/Frijns/Rast) +0.457
Meyer Shank Acura #60 (Blomqvist/Braun/Dixon/Allmendinger) +0.545
WRT BMW #25 (Marciello/Eng/Wittmann/Magnussen) +0.595
Action Express Cadillac #31 (Aitken/Bamber/Vesti/Zilisch) +0.598
HRC Acura #93 (van der Zande/Yelloly/Palou/Ohta) +0.670
THOR Aston Martin #23 (Gunn/de Angelis/Riberas) +0.936

Porsche remains at the top, but Cadillac can close the gap when it comes to the absolute fastest laps.

This pattern was seen repeatedly in the 2025 World Endurance Championship, where Cadillac proved to be extremely competitive in qualifying and on fast individual laps.

BMW and Acura remain at roughly in the same spot as in the long runs, the gap even tends to be slightly larger.

What the teams say

“We completed the test programme cleanly and were able to focus exclusively on our plan throughout. The Porsche 963 ran flawlessly, and the drivers delivered strong performances.” said Porsche’s LMDh project chief Urs Kuratle,

“The results from JDC-Miller MotorSports show that our customer team has also made noticeable progress over the winter. We are ideally prepared for the season opener, although we will only really be able to assess the competitive order during race week.”

Filipe Albuquerque from the Cadillac #10 also expressed satisfaction: “Happy with the car balance and with how everything went. Now it’s time to analyse data from these days and get ready for the race.”

Sheldon van der Linde hinted that BMW might not have shown its full potential yet: “We’ve spent the past few days working through the initial adjustments as new team members joined, setting a strong foundation moving forward.

“In the practice sessions before the race, the focus will now be on performance, so that we have a fast car in the race, which we can hopefully fight for victory with.”

If the BoP remains unchanged, Porsche is the clear favorite for the win. With all manufacturers except Aston Martin enjoying a smooth test, IMSA should have a good understanding of where the updated cars stand.

Three more practice sessions and qualifying are scheduled for Thursday and Friday.