DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The form guide for the 64th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona International Speedway isn’t too much clearer after three days of Roar Before the Rolex 24 testing than it was prior to the start.
Still, there was no denying Porsche’s consistent presence at the front of the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class field during each of the test days to start the new 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Porsche cars and drivers paced four of the first six sessions at the Roar, running 1-2-3 in two sessions and 1-2 in another. And it’s not just the upgraded-for-2026 factory No. 6 and No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport entries that are showing speed.
The No. 85 Porsche 963 fielded by JDC-Miller MotorSports, running in 2025 specification, ranked in the top two three times this weekend. Rising 21-year-old star Nico Pino was fastest overall Sunday morning in Session 6, lapping the 3.56-mile Daytona road course in 1 minute 37.099 seconds for an average speed of 131.989 mph in the yellow JDC-Miller GTP.
A final test session open only to Bronze-rated drivers in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) classes was set for the afternoon.
The JDC-Miller driver lineup is the youngest in the 11-car GTP field, with Pino joined for the full season by 21-year-old Tijmen van der Helm and 23-year-old American Kaylen Frederick for Daytona and the other IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.
“Nico does an exceptional job and has some experience in the factory cars, which helps us get an opinion as to where we are,” said JDC-Miller MotorSports team principal John Church. “He helps with development and sets a good benchmark, so that’s been really positive.”
Porsche ran 1-2-3 in GTP on Sunday morning, with the factory cars driven by Kevin Estre (No. 6) and Felipe Nasr (No. 7) placing second and third. They were followed by the No. 10 and No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.Rs (driven respectively by brothers Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor) and both BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s (piloted by Kevin Magnussen and Rene Rast). The top seven GTP entries were covered by just 0.474 seconds.
Ben Hanley again led the LMP2 class in Session 6 in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07, lapping in 1:40.101 (128.030 mph). The No. 2 car paced LMP2 in four of the first six Roar sessions, three while in the hands of Hanley.
In Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 led the class for a fourth time, this one in the hands of team owner Kenny Habul at 1:47.530 (119.185 mph), the best lap turned by any GTD PRO car yet this weekend. The No. 75 is serving as an unofficial Australian All-Star car, with Habul joined by reigning Supercars champion Chaz Mostert and two-time IndyCar champion Will Power, who is making his WeatherTech Championship debut. Mercedes-AMG factory driver Maro Engel rounds out the No. 75 lineup.
Ford factory driver Joey Hand was slightly quicker than Habul in Gradient Racing’s GTD class No. 66 Ford Mustang GT3 at 1:47.421 (119.306 mph). The Mustang was the dominant GTD car over the weekend, with the No. 66 Gradient and No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports entries leading five of the six sessions.
Leaders in the Sunday afternoon session for Bronze drivers were PJ Hyett (No. 99 AO Racing ORECA) in LMP2 and Brendan Iribe (No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO) in GTD.
