IMSA drivers get ready to roar at Daytona

The 2025 IMSA season launches today at the Daytona International Speedway with the annual Roar Before the 24 test, but almost every driver was on hand for Thursday’s media day to discuss the season ahead as the teams unloaded their trailers. It served as a useful opportunity to gauge the mood of some of the key teams in the field before the cars hit the track for the first time on Friday.

From the GTP pack, Wayne Taylor Racing’s drivers were some of the first to arrive in the morning. The team’s return to Cadillac looks set to be one of the key storylines to follow throughout the season, and for good reason. WTR’s previous stint with the GM brand in the DPi era was highly successful, delivering a slew of major wins and a class title in 2017.

But testing time in the off-season with its new pair of V-Series.Rs has been limited, which begs the question: how will the team cope with the move early in the season?

“For us, it’s drag and drop in terms of staff, but from the factory side it’s all changed so much from the DPi era,” Ricky Taylor, who will drive the No. 10 this season, told RACER. “Back then you would get an engine guy from GM, a performance guy from Dallara and that was pretty much the relationship between the team and those partners.

“Now, it’s a combination of 100-plus people across the different companies. So it’s still a learning curve and in some ways, it doesn’t feel like a homecoming; you feel like a stranger. But it’s interesting to see how everything has evolved, as GM is putting more resources into this than ever.”

Louis Deletraz, who has followed WTR from Acura to Cadillac, added that he is surprised by the differences between the Acura ARX-06 he drove previously with the team and the Cadillac V-Series.R he will drive this year.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time in the car so far,” he said. “But it’s more different than I thought. The engine, with the sound, is so different, but it’s really cool to drive and open up the throttle on the banking.

“The power delivery is great too and the traction is stronger. We have more control with this car on the accelerator and less lag from the turbo. There may be negatives and I need more time but the traction of the Cadillac has really surprised me.”

On the other side of the story, the arrival of Mike Shank and his band of drivers during the afternoon felt like a significant moment. After a year on the sidelines, Meyer Shank Racing is back with Acura, and the entire team seems eager to make up for lost time.

“When the checkered flag fell on the 2023 season, Mike told me and anyone that would listen that he was fully focused on trying to find a way back into GTP and IMSA. And here we are! It’s a mix of relief and excitement right now,” No. 60 driver Colin Braun said. “HRC has run some updates and improved on some small things, but the nuts and bolts of the car are the same, so we’re just picking up where we left off.

“We’ve got a great manufacturer behind us, a great team, great drivers. All the ingredients are there. For sure it’ll take a little time to fully jell and knock every execution item off the list, but having the long race at Daytona first should play into our hands and help us find our feet.”

Elsewhere in the class, after a challenging winter break for everyone involved in the Lamborghini SC63 program, there’s a palpable sense of relief among its drivers that IMSA GTP side of the effort is soldiering on in the wake of the brand’s WEC exit.

Mirko Bortolotti, who is back at Rolex for a 10th consecutive start in 2025, forms part of the Riley-supported team’s line-up for Daytona and told RACER they are treating this as a fresh start.

“It’s great to see the car finally at Daytona in GTP as we didn’t do the race last year, just the test,” he noted. “We are all looking forward to it. The main target and focus for us is to keep developing the car and that’s our goal here.

“The commitment is there from the factory or we wouldn’t be here. The goal is to build it up as a new beginning. We are all motivated and working in the right direction.

“I’m excited to get to know everyone. It’s a good mix of people from Riley and Lamborghini.”

What about the reigning champions at Porsche Penske Motorsport? It is working hard to follow up its stunning 2024 campaign with further trophies and another title charge with a shuffle to its driver roster and a key suspension update to the 963.

“The goal is really the same,” Jonathan Diuguid, the managing director of Porsche Penske Motorsport said. “All the effort we put in got us to where we were last year, so we don’t need to change anything. It’s all just tweaking and fine-tuning. We’ve built a good group here and we are ready to go again.”

The parade of talent from GTD PRO and GTD classes that passed through the media room was just as impressive as that of GTP. With so many teams and drivers in with a clear shot at glory this year, it’s going to be fascinating to see who comes out on top.

Will it be AO Racing again in PRO? The team’s star driver Laurin Heinrich is bullish about the prospects for the No. 77 “Rexy” Porsche — which is sporting a single gold tooth here in Daytona to mark the team’s triumph in 2024.

“Last year we didn’t think about winning the championship but it started so well and by Laguna, we were leading and didn’t give it back to anyone else after that,” he reflected. “It was great, but now we come back and we feel even stronger than before. The team is better prepared, more experienced and I feel we have good chances again. We should be more competitive than last year.

“You always say consistency is key and in the driver line-up, we didn’t last year (with Seb Priaulx leaving the team mid-season). So it was a challenge. But I was really lucky to be supported by strong drivers like Klaus , Michael (Christensen) and Julien .”

Speaking of Priaulx, he too had a beaming smile when he passed by RACER’s desk. The 23-year-old is following in the footsteps of his father Andy this year in his new role as a Ford factory driver, racing against his old team.

“It was sad to leave AO last year — we won two races and me and Laurin had a great partnership, but whatever Multimatic want me to do, I do,” he explained. “So I worked hard on preparing for this year and I’m really happy with the outcome. This is my dream place– being a Ford factory driver is something I’ve wanted to achieve since I was a kid. I can’t believe it…

“I haven’t had a whole lot of laps ahead of the Roar. We did a test in Indy and a test in Daytona, so I’ve only done about two days but it’s a fairly simple car to drive. I’m still learning, and having the engine at the front is different, but I am used to that with experience racing Ginettas and the Mustang GT4.”

Looking further than the full-season teams and drivers, there’s a real buzz around the Trackhouse by TF Corvette effort, which is bringing a star-studded quartet of Shane van Gisbergen, Connor Zilisch, Scott McLaughlin and Ben Keating to the class. It’s another one of those fantasy line-ups that the Rolex 24’s January slot has helped make possible.

“All the stars aligned for GM, TF and Trackhouse this year,” Zilisch explained. “I’m so surprised how quickly it all came together. It’s going to be a real challenge because we are all new to the car and haven’t turned a lap yet. I’ve also never driven a GT car. We just have to maximize the test weekend as much as we can.”

What about GTD? The timing screen displaying the running order of the 22-car field could end up resembling a fruit machine throughout the race next weekend. The early talk in the class centers around Winward Racing and Mercedes-AMG, which proved to be a lethal combination last season. Might we see a new powerhouse emerge, though? There is one key unknown for AMG going into this campaign, and that concerns the introduction of torque sensors to the category.

This addition to each car — which feeds live acceleration, horsepower and torque curve data to the series — should assist the BoP process. But for AMG, this presents a unique challenge. It is the only manufacturer in GTD not already accustomed to using the sensors via a 2024 program in the FIA WEC’s LMGT3 class.

“We are the manufacturer with the least experience with the sensors as we missed out on participating in WEC last year,” said Stefan Wendl, Mercedes-AMG’s customer racing boss. “We know we start on a different level to the others, so we are trying to gather as much data as possible and make the best out of it.

“The Roar sessions will be the first time a Mercedes-AMG will hit the track with sensors under scrutineering conditions after private tests in Europe and Daytona. We will see how it evolves, but realistically, I expect it will take a few races to come to a steady, controlled environment.”

And with that, the time for talking is over as the engines fire up Friday for the first of the three days of testing. Bring it on…