Daytona Thursday Notebook

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

***Rolex 24 at Daytona pole-sitter Jack Aitken scored Action Express Racing and Cadillac’s second pole in the last three years for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener after Pipo Derani’s pole-winning effort in 2024, which still stands as the qualifying lap record in the GTP class.

***Speaking following his pole run, Aitken said Action Express didn’t place a large focus on qualifying during the one-and-only practice session prior to qualifying earlier in the day, despite some simulation runs by other teams, admitting they were “very tight” on tire allocations.

***Aitken said: “We rolled the dice a little bit. It’s a lot of fun because you go into the unknown and just it lap by lap quite a lot. The car was a bit loose, which made it quite scary at times but it was fast. The Whelen Cadillac guys did a really good job to sort out a great car for me. It was a lot of fun.”

***Nick Cassidy flew to France after the Roar Before the Rolex 24 to complete a Stellantis simulator session at the manufacturer’s base in Satory near Paris. Cassidy races in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for Citroen and is also set for his Peugeot 9X8 debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year. The Kiwi is contesting the Rolex 24 as part of the lineup for the No. 343 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 Gibson.

***Kenny Habul said he’s hopeful of a last-minute rule change with the minimum drive time for FIA Bronze-rated drivers in GTD Pro. Habul is known to have been in discussions with fellow GTD Pro Bronze driver Scott Noble regarding the current minimum of 4 hours and 30 minutes that was put into place for this year.

***IMSA previously required all drivers, regardless of their grading, to complete a minimum of two hours in GTD Pro during the race but this rule was adjusted last November as part of a new approval process for Bronze-rated drivers wanting to compete in either GTD Pro or GTP this season. It sees those approved drivers now needing to complete the same minimum time if they raced in the Pro-Am-enforced LMP2 or GTD classes.

***Habul has changed the color of his 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo from its now-traditional orange back to chrome blue, in the hopes of rekindling his team’s luck at the Rolex 24, after having failed to finish the last three years. The last time the team ran the blue livery at Daytona, Habul and co-drivers Mikael Grenier, Raffaele Marciello and Luca Stolz claimed a runner-up finish in GTD.

***He told Sportscar365: “It’s been an unusual streak of bad luck here. Radiator and fuel tank and weird stuff that I haven’t had before, so I had to change something. We had blue hair that year, all of us! I tried but these guys chickened out on me. I didn’t want to be the only one.”

***The U.S.-based Australian is joined in the GTD Pro entry with NTT IndyCar Series star Will Power, reigning Australian Supercars champion Chaz Mostert and longtime Mercedes-AMG factory driver Maro Engel.

***Nick Tandy qualified 15th and last in GTD Pro in his first outing for AO Racing, as the two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in the class ended up at the back of the field. “It’s a huge disappointment,” said Tandy. “We were not as close to the other cars compared to free practice. Nevertheless, we have a good car for the race, a great team and a strong pit crew.”

***Sheldon van der Linde, who teams up with Dries Vanthoor as a new full season driver pairing in the No. 24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8, says the new-look Dallara-chassied LMDh contender has been “a lot easier” to drive with the aero updates made for this year. A number of BMW drivers have previously suffered crashes, believed to be linked to chassis stiffness.

***Van der Linde told Sportscar365: “It’s not necessarily quicker but it’s definitely easier and more consistent over the races. I assume we’ll make less mistakes and for the longer races it should be also easier to keep the car in a good window and adapt to the conditions.”

***Penske Racing President Jonathan Diuguid said he was particularly surprised how well new GTP recruit Laurin Heinrich, in only his second start in the Porsche 963, has adapted to traffic. “I think his first comment was, ‘Passing GT cars is a lot easier than getting passed’ and he’s happy to be in that position now,” said Diuguid.

***Porsche Motorsport is kicking off its 75th year this weekend, while Team Penske is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, which is expected to see a number of special events throughout the year in various series.

***IMSA’s managing director of engineering Matt Kurdock revealed that the Balance of Performance for the 2025-spec Porsche 963 from JDC-Miller Motorsports could change from the current-gen 963s, campaigned by Porsche Penske Motorsport, later in the season if a large enough performance gap is established. “Right now, IMSA’s position is that the performance parameters on the two generations of cars are close enough to use the same BoP,” Kurdock told Sportscar365. “If that changes, we would reassess the situation.”

***McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown arrived in Daytona from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The United Autosports co-owner, who is driving a Jaguar XJR-16 in the HSR IMSA Classic event this weekend, is also part of a delegation from McLaren Endurance Racing that are on-site, including executive director and McLaren United AS team principal James Barclay.

***Daytona International Speedway announced on Thursday that the track has entered into a long-term extension with Rolex to remain as the Rolex 24 title sponsor and official timepiece of the Rolex 24. Daytona’s partnership with Rolex has continued to grow since the 1950s, with the Swiss watchmaker having become the title sponsor of the race in 1992.

***Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley was named the 2025 recipient of the Road Racing Drivers Club Bob Akin Award, while Porsche legend Alwin Springer was given the Phil Hill Award. Additionally, Jason Miller, winner of the Prototype SCCA National Championship in 2025, was named the recipient of the Mark Donohue Award. All three were presented their awards during the annual RRDC members’ dinner on Wednesday evening in Daytona.

***A total of 44 drivers, primarily either FIA Bronze or Silver-rated, must take part in night practice in order to be eligible to race during periods of darkness. Click Here for the full list.

***Two additional practice sessions are on tap before the start of the Rolex 24. Night practice is scheduled to run from 6:15-7:45 p.m. ET tonight, before a one-hour final practice session on Friday from 11:20 a.m.-12:20 p.m. A 20-minute session for Bronze-rated drivers only will precede Practice 3.

Jamie Klein & Davey Euwema contributed to this report

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