Campbell Leads for Porsche Penske at Six Hours

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Matt Campbell led the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the one-quarter mark, putting Porsche Penske Motorsport out front past nightfall at Daytona International Speedway.

Campbell, in the No. 7 Porsche 963, passed the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R on the restart from the race’s sixth full course caution at the end of the fifth hour.

The gap initially expanded to more than four seconds before closing towards the end of the sixth hour in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener.

While all of the leading GTP cars pitted just moments prior to the hour-mark, Campbell maintained his lead over the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac, which changed drivers to pole-sitter Pipo Derani.

As a result of leading at the six-hour mark, the No. 7 Porsche scored maximum points in the first in-race segment of the Michelin Endurance Cup.

The No. o1 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande ran third, with Rene Rast and Filipe Albuquerque having completed the top-five for BMW M Team RLL and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, respectively.

Drama hit the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in the fourth hour with a wheel bearing failure that cost the Canadian squad more than 20 laps.

The No. 6 Porsche, meanwhile, received a drive-through penalty for failure to adhere to controlled powertrain parameters one hour later, which saw it drop back to the rear of the GTP order.

A caution for the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P217 Gibson of Lance Willsey, which was stranded in Turn 6 led to the fifth yellow, which was quickly followed by another caution for debris.

It came after Jordan Taylor spun his No. 40 WTR Andretti Acura ARX-06 just prior to the restart but quickly continued.

Two additional LMP2 cars have been retired, with the No. 88 Richard Mille AF Corse Oreca 07 Gibson dropping out with suspected engine failure and the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca also a retirement due to damage from an earlier accident by Daniel Goldburg in Turn 3.

The class at the six-hour mark was led by the No. 04 CrowdStrike by APR Oreca of Malthe Jakobsen, ahead of Felipe Fraga’s Riley entry.

Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers was out front of the GT ranks and in GTD Pro, ahead of the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, which pitted for service just after the six-hour mark.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John