What a start to the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA Series)! First podium for the BMW M Hybrid V8 at the 24 Hours of Daytona – on the debut of BMW M Team WRT in the GTP class. And the acclaimed victory for the #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Paul Miller Racing in the GTD-PRO class – simply fantastic! Connor De Phillippi, Neil Verhagen, Max Hesse and Dan Harper celebrated the first Daytona class win for BMW M Motorsport since the GTLM triumph for BMW M Team RLL in 2020.
After a difficult qualifying session, both BMW M Hybrid V8s gradually fought their way forward from eighth and ninth on the grid and were in the top five when the race was neutralised during the night due to heavy fog. After 6:30 hours behind the safety car, a six-hour sprint to the finish followed. Both crews were not unsettled by interim setbacks due to drive-through penalties and minor technical problems, and were in third and fourth place in the final hour of the race. Dries Vanthoor in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 took third place and thus the podium for himself and his driver colleagues Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns and René Rast.
The #25 car and drivers Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann, Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello had to pit again for refuelling shortly before the end due to an alternative strategy and dropped back to eighth position. It was also the first race for both BMW M Hybrid V8s with the heavily revised aerodynamic package.
There was also huge jubilation at Paul Miller Racing. De Phillippi, Verhagen, Hesse and Harper had to start from the back of the GTD-PRO field after a technical infringement in qualifying, but worked their way through the field with determination and took the lead in the closing stages. Harper crossed the line to take the win despite being out of radio contact with his team in the final hour of the race.
In the GTD class, the #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Turner Motorsport with Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher, Francis Selldorff and Jens Klingmann at the wheel was also on course for a podium until the final hour of the race. However, two drive-through penalties dropped the crew back to 10th place.
A great weekend for BMW M Motorsport! Congratulations to BMW M Team WRT on this hard-fought and well-deserved podium at the race premiere in the GTP class of the IMSA Series. To build such a great team in North America in such a short time and then to make it onto the podium at the first attempt with a revised car is simply fantastic. I'm also delighted for Paul Miller Racing with the class win. Our former BMW Junior Team reunited with Connor De Phillippi at the top of the podium – simply fantastic!
What an achievement by the team. It's incredible what everyone at BMW M Motorsport and Team WRT has achieved. They have worked very, very hard for this success. I can't thank each and every one of them enough.
Driver statements.
Dries Vanthoor (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, 3rd place GTP): "To be honest, this is a very unexpected podium. After the Roar, the practice sessions and qualifying, we weren't particularly optimistic and never thought that we could even fight for victory. Hats off to everyone who worked so hard to make this podium possible. For the first race for BMW M Team WRT in the IMSA GTP class, this is a fantastic result."
Sheldon van der Linde (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, 3rd place GTP): "I'm very, very happy. This is one of the most surprising podiums of my career. I don't think anyone expected us to be able to fight for victory before the race. Everyone was a bit unhappy about the pace the car had – but we knew that the team was incredibly strong in the race. We prepared all the strategy options we needed for the race and it paid off perfectly for us. Of course we had small problems, but all the teams in this race do. We are just happy to have been rewarded this time. It's incredibly impressive what the team has achieved in just four months. I can only say a huge thank you to them."
Robin Frijns (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, 3rd place GTP): "To be honest, at no point did I expect a podium. We were on the backfoot at the start of the weekend and had no real pace. But then we came back: We had good communication in the team and excellent teamwork. I'm very happy with third place."
René Rast (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, 3rd place GTP): "It's not often that a team is formed within a few months, joins the IMSA and immediately finishes on the podium at Daytona. This shows how strong the team is and how well the co-operation with BMW M Motorsport has worked. Of course, third place is also unexpected, as we had little pace at the start of the weekend and had no idea that we would be fighting for the win and the podium. It's a gigantic team performance. A huge thank you to BMW M Motorsport and Team WRT!"
Marco Wittmann (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, 8th place GTP): "The whole team put in a great performance and achieved much more than we expected after the Roar and qualifying. We were able to fight for the podium with both cars. In the end, our sister car made it – congratulations! When you're in a good position as a team with two cars, you split the strategy. We had gambled on a late yellow phase, which might even have brought us victory. Unfortunately, this poker didn't work out. Nevertheless, we can all be proud of how we completed this race. We always remained calm, even when there were setbacks. As newcomers, we definitely achieved our goal. We can build on this with a view to the upcoming races."
Neil Verhagen (#1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paul Miller Racing, 1st place GTD-PRO): "Simply incredible! It doesn't feel real yet. I don't think I'll realise what we've achieved here today until tomorrow. I have to let it sink in first. Paul Miller Racing did a great job. We had a perfect race. It wasn't easy at the end because we had no radio contact with Dan. That made energy management complicated, but fortunately everything worked out great in the end."
Connor De Phillippi (#1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paul Miller Racing, 1st place GTD-PRO): "Winner of the Rolex 24 of Daytona: What a day! I'm just so proud of this team and everyone at BMW M Motorsport in Munich and here in the USA. What a team effort! We weren't the clear favourites, but we knew we had a chance to finish on the podium or even win this weekend if we drove clean and had an undamaged car at the end. Each of us did a perfect job. Dan drove phenomenally for the last three hours – I'm really speechless. One of our rivals made a small mistake and that was all it took to take the lead – and Dan never looked back. I'm just so happy with this victory because it's a race that's very hard to win. I'm proud to have won with these three guys."
Dan Harper (#1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paul Miller Racing, 1st place GTD-PRO): "I still can't believe it. I was counting down the laps at the end because I could see the Mercedes getting closer and closer. Unfortunately, I lost my radio relatively early on, so I had no information on lap times or distances – but at least I could see the gap in the rear-view mirror. In the end, my tyres were simply cooked, I was really just hanging on. I tried to hit my marks and get through the traffic cleanly. I'm really proud of all my teammates and team members. We won Daytona."
Max Hesse (#1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paul Miller Racing, 1st place GTD-PRO): "I'm just over the moon and super proud of BMW M Motorsport, Paul Miller Racing and my team-mates. At times it didn't look like we had the fastest car, but we focussed on being competitive in the warmer conditions at the end. That worked out really well and we were able to fight for victory in the last six hours."
Robby Foley (#96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Turner Motorsport, 10th place GTD): "Congratulations to everyone at Paul Miller Racing on winning the GTD-PRO class and to Team WRT on the podium in the GTP class. That's great! It was an incredibly bitter end to a very strong week for us. We had a strong pace in qualifying and led for large parts of the race. In the end, it was a few small mistakes that catapulted us out of the podium positions. We can be proud of the car we brought to the start here. Many thanks to everyone at BMW M Motorsport and Turner Motorsport for this opportunity. We will take the momentum and a fast car with us to Sebring."