Sunday was a record breaking day at Daytona International Speedway to wrap up the Roar Before the 24. Coming off their IMSA GTP class championship last year, the Whelen Engineering Cadillac team and Pipo Derani started off 2024 by taking pole for the Rolex 24. With under five minutes left in qualifying, Derani put down a time of 1:32.656. This smashed the previous track record set in 2019, a 1:33.685.
Derani was followed by his Cadillac counterpart Sebastian Bourdais, who finished just seven thousandths of a second off pole. The only two Cadillacs on the grid will have the front row locked out on race day, after being absent from the top three in last year’s qualifying.
One of the main storylines heading into this year’s race was the absence of two-time defending Rolex 24 winner Meyer Shank Racing. Following their victory in last season’s event, the team was found to have manipulated their tire pressure data. Severe penalties were handed down by IMSA officials, which ultimately led to the team pausing their sports car program.
With this absence, it opens the door for other GTP teams to move up the leaderboards. So far, Cadillac has taken full advantage.
The combination of cooler temperatures, plus an additional year of development in the young GTP class were contributing factors to the previous track record being beaten by such a wide margin.
“I think a lot of it is just us understanding the car,” Derani said. “I think obviously the conditions help – as usual, this time of the year is quite cold at Daytona, so more or less the perfect condition for qualifying – but I think everyone is just so much more integrated with their tools and how to extract lap time from from such a difficult car.”
While the remaining classes are far more developed than GTP, the conditions were enough to see more records fall.
UK-based United Autosports took the LMP2 pole in their first ever race as a full time team in America. Ben Keating, who joined the team this season, now has five consecutive Rolex 24 poles in LMP2. Keating will not only be driving for United Autosports in LMP2, but also for JDC-Miller Motorsports’ Porsche in GTP.
A new track record was also set in the GTD Pro class. Driving the iconic, “Rexy” Porsche livery for AO Racing, Seb Priaulx ran a 1:44.382 to take pole. Defending class champion Jack Hawksworth finished just under a tenth behind in his Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus.
Newcomer Parker Thompson added to the strong qualifying for Vasser Sullivan, setting another class record lap time to take the GTD pole.
Full qualifying results can be found here.
With qualifying complete, the field is set for the 62nd running of the Rolex 24. The green flag will fly at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 1:40 p.m ET.
Image Courtesy of IMSA.com
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