Penske Explains Four-Driver Lineup Approach for Daytona

Photo: Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s move to four-driver lineups for the Rolex 24 at Daytona was a “two-fold” decision according to the team’s managing director Jonathan Diuguid, who feels confident in the roster it has assembled for the Florida endurance classic.

After opting for three drivers in both of its debuting Porsche 963s in the 2023 event, the German manufacturer has elected to utilize four for the upcoming IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener.

While set to become mandatory beginning with the 2025 edition of the race, GTP and GTD Pro teams are allowed to choose either three or four-driver squads per car for the Rolex 24.

Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre, co-drivers in the team’s FIA World Endurance Championship lineup, have joined Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 Porsche for Daytona, with Matt Campbell and Josef Newgarden completing the driving squad in the No. 7 entry alongside the new full season pairing of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr.

“When we look at the endurance races, specifically Daytona, we weren’t where we needed to be from a reliability standpoint. You could argue pace as well,” Diuguid told Sportscar365.

“We looked at our competitors and I think over the past five years, the winning car had four driver lineups.

“Additionally in 2025, it will be mandatory.

“We just looked at it and said the combination of those two things and the fact that we have really strong driver lineups, we just took the approach of let’s try it and see how it goes and understand the operational impacts and things like that.

“I think having fresh drivers, especially with the lineup we have, isn’t a bad thing. We’re just taking that approach this year.”

Diuguid said the recent IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway provided the perfect opportunity for its expanded lineup to work out some of the additional complexities by having four-driver lineups.

“It’s all the other little things like, ‘Are the pedals where they need to be for four guys? Are the seats working? Is everybody’s radios and everything working? For sure tests like this are important,” he said.

“We’re bringing people from within the PPM stable and everybody has raced here before, whether in a LMDh or a GT car with the exception of Josef.

“But I think he’s had enough time in the car, whether it’s test days or Road Atlanta at Petit Le Mans to be prepared.”

Four-time Rolex 24 winners Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, which has regularly opted for four drivers at Daytona, is again taking the same approach, with NTT IndyCar Series ace Marcus Ericsson (No. 10) and 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button (No. 40) having been drafted into the lineup.

Button, who is set for his Rolex 24 debut, argued the advantages of four drivers.

“It’s quite a tough track; there’s not a lot of rest,” he told Sportscar365. “Even the banking it’s affecting your physically. You can feel it on your hands and there’s vibrations and what have you.

“There’s a lot less rest than somewhere like Le Mans, so I understand the four-driver lineup.

“It does make it tricky in some ways because you all get a little bit less testing. But there’s the two-day test [in December], the three-day test in January, so there should be enough time for us all.

“If we get enough laps in, it’s better with four.”

Milner: Three-Driver Lineups “Worked for Us in the Past”

Several GTD Pro teams, including Ford Multimatic Motorsports and Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, however, have opted for three-driver lineups for Daytona, as Corvette has typically operated.

“It’s worked for us in the past,” Tommy Milner told Sportscar365. “We’ve been spoiled in the past that the A/C has been so good in our car. No matter what, it’s physically demanding.

“Daytona is not too bad with the banking and things like that.

“It looks like after this year you’ll have to have four. What’s nice about three guys is you get a lot more seat time throughout practice because there’s not a lot of it.

“You just feel more confident going into the race and you’ve got a lot of seat time in the car.

“There’s benefits of four. You have more rest time, which is great, especially at the end of the race. But I’m perfectly happy with two teammates.

“I know it will go to four in 2025. But there’s pros and cons to both. It’s what I’m used to so I don’t have nothing different [to compare it to]. The year after will be different.”

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