Daytona Saturday Notebook

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

***Sheldon van der Linde struck an upbeat tone after BMW M Team RLL led two of three sessions on Saturday, with the South African himself setting a 1:36.196 to go fastest in Session 4. “I think the car has made a huge step forward since the WEC season and I think that alone really shows this year,” he said. “I think the team has also made steps forward from the last two years as well. We’ve got a lot of new engineers, some from Cadillac, for example, as well, which definitely helps.”

***Van der Linde declined to comment on the identity of the new engineers when asked by Sportscar365.

***IMSA practiced its new-for-2025 GTD Pro and GTD class split in the day’s first session with a simulated yellow flag scenario, followed by the category and class divisions. The new rules will divide GTD Pro and GTD cars similarly to the already existing GTP and LMP2 class divisions that occur on restarts. All 61 cars in the field were requested by IMSA to participate.

***GTD class competitor and DXDT Racing driver Alec Udell told Sportscar365: “It’s similar to what we’ve done in this series in the past. The only thing that changes now is when you’re listening to the engineer, there’s a designation between the category split and class split. Ultimately, it is probably a nice thing from a sporting side because you get to be around the cars you’re racing, and you don’t feel like you’re being picked by another car for some reason.”

***Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Nico Varrone added: “It was really smooth. I think everyone understands the process already from the one before so it was really easy to do. Hopefully, for the fans, it will bring more excitement and more close racing between classes, which I think will be better. It was really smooth and really clear for everyone.”

***Porsche Penske Motorsport replaced the battery and MGU on its No. 7 Porsche 963 following yesterday’s ‘red alarm’ that forced Felipe Nasr to abandon the car on the backstretch during the second session. The car returned to action without any reported issues on Saturday morning.

***It’s been revealed that two other 963s also encountered high voltage-related issues on Friday. The No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche changed its battery in the morning, missing most of the first session, while the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports lost time in the afternoon session with an undisclosed HV problem.

***Joey Hand has been reunited with his 1999 Star Mazda series championship-winning car chief Kyle Hall, who serves as crew chief on the No. 66 Gradient Racing Ford Mustang GT3.

***Hand, who remains a factory Ford Performance driver, told Sportscar365 that he’s currently confirmed at Gradient for the five Michelin Endurance Cup races only. “We haven’t talked about it but for now it’s the ones we have three drivers,” he said.

***Fellow Ford ace Harry Tincknell, meanwhile, indicated that the Rolex 24 could be his only WeatherTech Championship outing this year, with the Multimatic-contracted driver set to focus on his FIA World Endurance Championship duties with Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH in the Hypercar class.

***Tincknell told Sportscar365: “I would say right now there are no plans for any more, but I am super happy to be back. I was sad not to be doing the long races here, so when the call came to do Daytona I was really excited. The primary focus will be on WEC.”

***While yet to be announced, Sportscar365 believes that Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis will be the season-long co-drivers in Heart of Racing’s solo Valkyrie GTP entry in the WeatherTech Championship, which is slated to debut in the next round at Sebring.

***Four-time IMSA champion Dane Cameron said he’s felt a huge weight off his shoulders returning to Daytona International Speedway after winning his first Rolex 24, with Porsche Penske Motorsport. The 36-year-old is with AO Racing in the LMP2 ranks this year.

***Cameron said: “It’s nice go to back to Daytona with the weight off the shoulders, for sure. That was always tough to go there every year with a lot of expectation and pressure from myself to try and get that one done. It’s nice to go there without that for once!”

***Era Motorsport’s Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 car has been coined the ‘programmers’ car, with Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson joined by colleague Tobias Lutke, the co-founder and CEO of Shopify, who uses Heinemeier Hansson’s platform to power the popular e-commerce company.

***DHH told Sportscar365: “Tobi built Shopify on Rails by himself in the early days and was even on the Rails core team, and has been an amazing supporter of Ruby on Rails ever since. I’ve known him for 20 years and then he just started getting into racing a few years ago, first doing iRacing, and doing some club stuff and Radicals, moving onto LMP3s.”

***It’s understood that Lutke, the team’s designated Bronze-rated driver, will be in for all of LMP2 races this season except Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where he has a clashing business commitment. Lutke has outlined his ambition of taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the future.

***With his first outing as a factory driver for BMW, Kevin Magnussen follows in the footsteps of his father Jan in representing the Bavarian brand on an international stage. Although the elder Magnussen is largely known for his lengthy and successful tenure with Corvette Racing, he joined BMW for the FIA World Touring Car Championship round at Macau in 2006.

***AO Racing is “investigating options” to have ‘Rexy’ on the GTD grid in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach according to team principal Gunnar Jeannette. The first sprint round of the WeatherTech Championship season will again not feature the GTD Pro class, leaving the option open for the team to potentially enter its Porsche 911 GT3 R for the 100-minute race.

***Sportscar365 understands that Laurens Vanthoor could be in contention for the ride, alongside Bronze-rated team owner PJ Hyett.

***Van der Steur Racing, which is making its GTD class debut as part of a Michelin Endurance Cup effort this year, has purchased both of Elias Sabo’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVOs that ran in SRO America competition in 2024. The Flying Lizard Motorsports driver made the mid-season switch to BMW machinery.

***The team is receiving support from Prodrive this weekend.

***While Luis Perez Companc is set to pilot an Oreca in this year’s Rolex 24, his son Matias is making his GT3 debut aboard an AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. He steps up after competing in Ferrari Challenge North America last year.

***The chassis in use for Trackhouse by TF Sport’s GTD Pro entry is the same car that will contest the European Le Mans Series later this year, team principal Tom Ferrier told Sportscar365. The two WEC cars, meanwhile, are currently in Dubai, where the team will conduct a shakedown test in the days immediately following the Daytona race.

***United Autosports’ pair of Orecas are both carrying a tribute decal to commemorate Ian Barnwell. The logistics specialist passed away in December after a short illness.

Davey Euwema & Jonathan Grace contributed to this report