The starting order has been set for this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, the year’s first major endurance race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. Qualifying was held on Thursday, with one driver from each team racing to get themselves as high a starting spot as they can. The field will be rolling off at 1:30 pm on Saturday and racing for a full day straight, with the winners being decided the following day.
The pole position was secured by Belgian driver Dries Vanthoor, driving the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8. He’ll be the first driver to start the race, taking shifts alongside teammates Phillip Eng, Kevin Magnussen, and Raffaele Marciello. Rolling off second will be the #93 Acura ARX-06 for Acura Meyer Shank Racing, which was piloted in qualifying by Nick Yelloly.
The top twelve starters are all competing in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) division, the series of cars which is expected to produce the race’s overall winner on Sunday. There are three classes who will be racing simultaneously, with each team striving to finish first within the group in their individual class.
Starting spots 13 through 24 are composed of the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) division, which features a similarly star-studded field. The top qualifier among LMP2 entries was United Autosports USA, whose #22 car driven by Daniel Goldburg will be starting 13th overall. He’ll start alongside the second highest LMP2 car, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Ben Keating driving an ORECA LMP2 07.
After that, starting spots 25 through 39 are made up of the GT Daytona Pro (GTDPRO) class, whose highest qualifier was Mike Rockenfeller in a Ford Mustang GT3 for Ford Multimatic Motorsports. Among his teammates is Austin Cindric, the winner of the 2022 Daytona 500. Finally, the GT Daytona class (GTD) forms the 40th through 60th starting spots. The highest qualified in that group was Elliott Skeer, driving for Wright Motorsports in a Porsche 911.
As one of the most popular endurance races in the world, the Rolex 24 is a draw for drivers of several disciplines from across the globe. Of the many who are competing over the course of Saturday and Sunday, the United States is by far the most represented nation of origin in the field, followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, and France. Participants come from a background of IMSA racing, NASCAR, Formula 1, IndyCar, and numerous other styles of motorsports.
