Power Sets Sights on Rolex 24 Debut Victory With 75 Express

A debut victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona would be “amazing” for Will Power, who is stepping into only his second 24-hour race during next weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion has been enlisted by longtime friend and 75 Express team owner/driver Kenny Habul to pilot the No. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, with Chaz Mostert and Maro Engel completing the lineup.

It will mark Power’s second GT3 appearance after taking part in last year’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS.

Prior to that, his only other sports car experience came in the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hours at the wheel of a Porsche 996 GT3-RS.

The Australian, who also won the Indianapolis 500 in 2018, has set his sights on a debut victory, which would also mark Mercedes-AMG’s first GTD Pro class win at Daytona since 2023.

“Of course, that would be amazing coming here first time and winning,” Power told Sportscar365. “I know Kenny has won a lot of the endurance races so he’s really keen to win this one.

“He’s been in a great position a few times, so I know he’s determined.

“He even changed the color of the car back to blue. Because he’s like, ‘I haven’t done well with the orange.’”

Power has quickly gotten up to speed across the first two days of running at the Roar Before the Rolex 24, topping the GTD Pro charts during two sessions on Saturday.

Despite that, the 44-year-old noted that there are still certain parts of the Daytona circuit where he still believes gains are to be found.

“Sometimes when circuits are easy or more straightforward, it sometimes closes all times up and it’s really difficult to separate yourself from everyone else,” Power said.

“So from that perspective it’s difficult, but Turn 1 is really hard to turn brake at the speed you’ve got to come and line yourself up nicely.

“It is still hard to extract the time at the [Le Mans] chicane, the way you hit the curbs. It’s got to land right. There’s plenty of technicalities in here.”

During the Roar, Power has split driving duties with Habul and Mostert as Engel, the fourth driver of the lineup, was unavailable due to a clash with the Michelin 24H Dubai.

Engel finished third at the Middle Eastern enduro with Winward Racing and will link up with the 75 Express crew for the start of official on-track running for the Rolex 24 on Thursday.

“I talked to him at Indy as well, [about] how to drive the cars and so on,” Power said of Engel.

“I said to him ‘It’d be cool to be your teammate.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, maybe the 24-hour [race at Daytona].’ He’ll be great to learn from.”

The Roar has notably been the first time that Power has been presented with the multi-class racing involving prototypes that is a staple of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having spent practically his entire career in single seater racing.

“A couple times I’ve got a fright if you’re not really focused on what’s coming, because they come so quickly,” he said.

“I think we’re going to get a spotter for the race.

“That would make a big difference because then they could say you’re going to be clear to this corner and you can just focus on the corner and not be constantly looking and wondering.

“It’s a part of the skill set you got to have. You have got to be able to be passed and then not lose too much time and just keep really good pace and be smart with your decisions.

“I’m kind of glad I’m out there. The more traffic I get, the better for me at the moment.”