Daytona Tuesday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***Sixteen cars, comprised of GTP and LMP2 class entries, unloaded Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the start of the IMSA-sanctioned test, which gets underway for prototype machinery on Wednesday with a pair of on-track sessions.

***More than 25 GTD Pro or GTD entires will join the running beginning on Thursday, prior to ‘targeted performance testing’ on Friday and Saturday for the production-based cars, where each GT3 manufacturer nominates a team and driver to perform such duties.

***An entry list featuring drivers for this week’s test has not been released, leaving gaps in a number of cars.

***All six of the Cadillac Racing drivers are expected to be present, with Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing entry and defending GTP champion Pipo Derani already in the paddock on Tuesday alongside his new-for-2024 co-driver Jack Aitken and IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup driver Tom Blomqvist, who will drive the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.

***Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, which expands into a two-car Acura ARX-06 operation, also has its full slate of drivers present, including Jenson Button, while Dane Cameron, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell were among the Porsche Penske Motorsport drivers that made appearances today.

***Jesse Krohn and Augusto Farfus are set to handle testing duties of the No. 24 Team RLL-run BMW M Hybrid V8, with Connor De Phillippi and Maxime Martin listed on the No. 25 BMW. Of note, Dries Vanthoor and Nick Yelloly, who were confirmed for the Rolex 24, are both taking part in this weekend’s Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli season-ending Gulf 12 Hours.

***Andrea Caldarelli and Daniil Kvyat are on hand to give the Lamborghini SC63 its first run on U.S. soil, with the car attracting significant attention as Lamborghini Iron Lynx rolled the Ligier-chassied prototype through IMSA’s scrutineering on Tuesday afternoon. As previously reported, the car is only on hand for Balance of Performance purposes and will not take part in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

***Longtime former Audi engineer and North American customer manager Brad Kettler has been appointed as Lamborghini Iron Lynx’s U.S. operations manager.

***Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, meanwhile, has Tom Dillmann and Clement Novalak in its No. 52 Oreca 07 Gibson alongside the previously announced Kuba Smiechowski, who is confirmed for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races.

***PR1/Mathiasen team principal Bobby Oergel told Sportscar365 that they’ve yet to finalize their Bronze-rated driver for the season in the car, which is the same Oreca 07 Gibson chassis used this year but now bearing the colors of the Polish-flagged Inter Europol Competition.

***Despite the livery and driver changes, Oergel said the crew has also remained the same from the 2023 season, although indicated that Inter Eurpol has offering some engineering input into the program.

***Charles Milesi is expected to be confirmed as TDS Racing’s fourth driver alongside Steven Thomas, Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea, meanwhile. The Frenchman was another driver present in the paddock on Tuesday.

***The LMP2 Balance of Performance has, for now, remained unchanged for the Oreca, while IMSA has added the Ligier JS P217 Gibson to the BoP table. Both cars have started at the same minimum weight of 950 kg.

***FIA Formula 3 race-winner Jonny Edgar was spotted in the Sean Creech Motorsport garage. The 19-year-old Englishman, who is Silver-rated by the FIA, is expected to turn laps tomorrow alongside full season drivers Joao Barbosa and Lance Willsey.

***A number of drivers and several teams, including CrowdStrike Racing by APR, arrived fresh off last weekend’s pair of Asian Le Mans Series season-opening races at Sepang International Circuit. Colin Braun and George Kurtz were victorious alongside Malthe Jakobsen in Sunday’s race in Malaysia.

***Both of the WTR Andretti Acuras are brand-new chassis according to team co-owner Wayne Taylor, who said the cars had shakedowns at Putnam Park prior to arriving at Daytona.

***Laurens Vanthoor is set to get his first laps of Daytona International Speedway in Porsche’s 963 tomorrow. The Belgian told Sportscar365 that he did not take part in any pre-season tests at the track in the build-up to the 2023 season.

***Out of next year’s WeatherTech Championship races, Vanthoor is so far only confirmed for the Rolex 24 in the No. 6 Porsche, alongside full season drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy, plus Vanthoor’s FIA World Endurance Championship co-driver Kevin Estre.

***It’s understood Porsche has yet to decide on third drivers for the other long-distance races as it works out its factory driver rosters for the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour and Núrburgring 24, the former which is expected to clash with Porsche Penske’s pre-event tests for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

***A number of cars are set to return or take to Daytona for a private test, hosted by Riley, on Dec. 16-17. Riley’s LMP2 car and both Kellymoss with Riley Porsches will be present alongside JDC-Miller Motorsports’ Porsche 963, AO Racing’s entries, Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ Ford Mustang GT3s as well as LMP2 cars from United Autosports and Sean Creech Motorsport.

***A Lamborghini-hosted private test at Circuit of The Americas, meanwhile, is also set for next week and will also include the Porsche Penske squad in attendance.

***Tomorrow’s sessions run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 5 p.m. ET, with no official timing set to be available.

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