DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Carmakers call it a mid-cycle refresh when they make small but significant detail changes to their products, whether through refinements in powertrain and chassis technology or performance-related styling tweaks.
The premier Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is experiencing a mid-cycle refresh of its own in 2026.
Four of the five participating manufacturers – Acura, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche – are introducing updated “Evo” (evolution) versions of their hybrid-powered race cars, and the Aston Martin Valkyrie will compete in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona for the first time.
In addition, every GTP competitor will be turning their first competitive laps on a new design of Michelin tire that features a unique visual identity and improved warm-up characteristics.
It all adds up to a world of newness and uncertainty for when the 60-car field (spread among four classes) takes the green flag Saturday to race twice around the clock on the Daytona International Speedway road course that combines a technical infield section with long stretches of the track’s iconic banked oval.
“Obviously, always looking forward to Daytona – it’s starting the new year,” said Filipe Albuquerque, who owns two overall Rolex 24 victories along with a class win. This year, Albuquerque is sharing the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R with Ricky Taylor and Will Stevens.
“A lot of preparation from Wayne Taylor Racing in the offseason; we have the ‘jokers’ (IMSA-homologated upgrades) on the Cadillac, so I’m really excited to see the evolution, but also from our competitors as well. I think we will only know the true speed of each one when we are on track with everybody at the same time.
“New car livery, new helmet, new suit. It’s like starting from zero.”
As the two-time defending GTP class champion and historic leader with 20 overall victories by Porsche race cars dating to 1968 (including the last two years, with an additional four featuring Porsche engines), Porsche is clearly the benchmark at the Rolex 24.
Porsche Penske Motorsport enters 2026 with aerodynamic revisions to the Porsche 963 and a revised driver lineup that leans heavily on the roster that competed for Porsche the last three years in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Three-time IMSA champion Felipe Nasr is PPM’s only carryover full-season IMSA driver from 2025, joined full-time in the No. 7 Porsche 963 this year by Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich in IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races.
Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre will share the No. 6 car, joined for IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events by 2025 GTP co-champion Matt Campbell.
Both Porsche and Team Penske are celebrating significant milestones in 2026: the 75th anniversary of Porsche Motorsport, and the 60th anniversary of Team Penske, which made its first official start in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona – the first year Daytona’s endurance race was extended to a full 24 hours.
“We want more,” said Thomas Laudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport. “In the anniversary year of Porsche Motorsport and on the 60th birthday of Team Penske, we have clear objectives: a third consecutive Daytona victory with the Porsche 963, and we intend to compete for titles in the IMSA series again in 2026.”
Cadillac boasts a three-car armada, with two Wayne Taylor Racing entries and the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R entry that carried Jack Aitken to a pair of late-season wins and second place in the 2025 GTP standings.
“We haven’t gone for a massive revolution or anything; we’re just trying to pick off those little wins and keep the ball rolling,” Aitken said. “We’ve got a good driver lineup, we’ve got a good car, we’re happy with our crew. I think we just need to be consistent. There’s no magic dust; it’s just being sensible.”
Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian approaches 2026 with an upgraded version of the Acura ARX-06 and a sense of stability after spending much of last year catching up from missing the 2024 GTP campaign.
MSR’s full-season driver pairings of Tom Blomqvist/Colin Braun (No. 60) and Renger van der Zande/Nick Yelloly (No. 93) are assisted at Daytona by a group of international all-stars, including IndyCar champions Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, NASCAR’s AJ Allmendinger and rising Japanese ace Kaku Ohta.
“I’ve done this race every year since 2004 and I love it,” said Dixon, a four-time Rolex 24 winner, including three overall victories. “A lot of the times you can get to the end of the race, and you could be racing 10 people for the win in the last 15 minutes, which is insane.
“I just love the vibe and the atmosphere here, and they’ve definitely built on it. The crowds are a lot bigger than they used to be and there’s so much manufacturer support. A lot of positives.”
BMW is switching its IMSA partner organization for GTP from Team RLL to WRT, which has anchored BMW’s effort in WEC since the GTP formula debuted in 2023. BMW has also shuffled its driver lineup and introduced an Evo version of the BMW M Hybrid V8, leaving the car numbers (24 and 25) as virtually the only elements of the project unchanged from a year ago.
“There are so many new things,” said Philipp Eng, co-driver of the No. 25 entry. “I have a new full-season teammate with Marco Wittmann. New team, obviously, with WRT. There’s no doubt they are one of the best teams in the world, so I am very happy to be racing for them. We opened the performance window of the car. It’s still early days, but I think we have a very good overview of what to expect.
“I’m happy that winter break is over and we get to go back racing.”
The Aston Martin THOR Team’s No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie was a popular addition to the WeatherTech Championship in 2025, and the sweet-sounding V-12 powered prototype makes its Rolex 24 debut this year. Aston Martin ended the 2025 campaign with the car’s first podium in the season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and hopes to keep the momentum going.
“I think continuity is really important and having pretty much everything the same will help us continue on the trajectory we ended on last year,” said Ross Gunn, who co-drives full-time with Roman De Angelis. “I’m happy that we went that route.”
IMSA has become the world’s premier championship for the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, and the Rolex 24 field features a robust 13-car entry. Over the course of the season, Bronze-rated LMP2 drivers compete for the Jim Trueman Award, which includes an invitation to compete in the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Production car-based cars built to the international GT3 standard enjoy an even bigger presence, with 15 entries set to compete in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and 21 pro-am driver combinations slated for Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). Ten manufacturers are represented – Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche.
The 64th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona begins with practice and qualifying Thursday and a final practice Friday. The green flag is set to wave at 1:40 p.m. ET Saturday.
