Pfaff Wins New GTD Pro Class After Final Lap Porsche Drama

The Pfaff Motorsports crew of Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr claimed GTD Pro class honors in the Rolex 24 at Daytona after a dramatic deciding battle with fellow Porsche outfit KCMG.

Jaminet and Laurens Vanthoor came to blows at the Le Mans Chicane on the final lap, after Vanthoor tried to out-brake his fellow factory driver on the outside line.

The pair touched as Vanthoor drew alongside, but the No. 2 KCMG Porsche ended up on the grass and wildly spun while Jaminet managed to continue on to the checkered flag without significant delay.

Vanthoor, who shared the KCMG Porsche with Patrick Pilet, Dennis Olsen and Alexandre Imperatori, ultimately ended up third after falling behind the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of Alessandro Pier Guidi, Davide Rigon, Daniel Serra and James Calado.

Pfaff and KCMG were nose-to-tail through the last couple of hours but their battle intensified in the last 30 minutes when the field was released from the 16th full-course caution period of the race.

Jaminet initially appeared to have the measure of Vanthoor, but the Belgian closed in and stuck his KCMG Porsche in front by getting alongside the Pfaff car through Turns 2 and 3 with five minutes to go.

That was not the end of the duel, however, as Jaminet quickly responded by taking Vanthoor into the Horseshoe right-hander.

A determined Vanthoor, who won the IMSA GTD title with Pfaff last year, then made his final attempt to secure KCMG debut win but contact on entry into the Le Mans Chicane decided the result in the No. 9 car’s favor.

Race control ruled no further action.

Risi Competizione started the final stint in fourth after being caught out by the timing of the final caution, but Pier Guidi worked his way past Lexus driver Jack Hawksworth to take third before profiting from Vanthoor’s trouble to earn second.

Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood finished fourth in class in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, which was the only other car on the GTD lead lap.

WeatherTech Racing’s No. 15 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Austin Cindric, Patrick Assenheimer and Dirk Mueller completed the top five, two laps off the winning car.

Technical and incident-related problems befell several GTD Pro runners, most notably both Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTDs and the two RLL-prepared BMW M4 GT3s.

The top Corvette was the No. 3 car in sixth, finishing 13 laps off the lead, due to an alternator change while the No. 4 Corvette was further delayed due to repairs on the diffuser, exhaust pipes and starter following contact during the night.

Both BMWs battled a variety of issues, including a dislodged floor for one of the cars early on.  

Double Class Victory for Porsche With Wright Win

Wright Motorsports added to Porsche’s accolades by winning the GTD class with Jan Heylen, Richard Lietz, Zach Robichon and Ryan Hardwick.

It marked the first time that a manufacturer claimed victories in both IMSA GT classes at Daytona since the start of the post-merger era in 2014.

Magnus Racing took second in its first race with the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, while Mercedes-AMG outfit Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports completed the class podium.

Wright largely controlled the final quarter of the race but at times came under pressure from the AF Corse Ferrari featuring Nicklas Nielsen and Toni Vilander.

Nielsen was running second behind Heylen at the last restart but was ordered to return to the pits to serve a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit lane.

That dropped the Ferrari off the podium positions and handed second place to the Magnus crew of Andy Lally, John Potter, Jonny Adam and Spencer Pumpelly.

Gilbert Korthoff, which released Guy Cosmo just days before the race, scored a surprise podium result with James Davison, Mike Skeen, Stevan McAleer and Scott Andrews at the wheel.

The 24-hour debutant team benefitted from misfortunes from a number of other contenders, including defending class winners Winward Racing, which was forced to the garage in the final six hours with a damaged hood on its Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo and the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 after it encountered brake issues while leading. 

Several GTD cars, including the No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes, were also taken out in a multi-car accident in the early stages of the race.

RESULTS: Rolex 24 at Daytona