Rolex 24: Porsche Penske Leads as Tower Motorsports Dominates LMP2 at Hour 17
The Porsche Penske Motorsport team continues to dominate the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with Kevin Estre leading a 1-2 formation after reclaiming the lead from teammate Felipe Nasr at Turn 1. This follows a brief setback when Estre missed the Le Mans chicane and had to use the escape road.
IMSA race car at Daytona
The No. 7 Porsche 963 received a warning for an unsafe pit release affecting the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen car. Meanwhile, the No. 24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8, now driven by Philipp Eng, has moved up to third place, overtaking the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 with Scott Dixon at the wheel.
In LMP2, Tower Motorsports has regained control after CrowdStrike Racing's Toby Sowery spun on cold tires at Turn 1. Job van Uitert, taking over from Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 8 Tower ORECA, maintains the lead ahead of Sowery and Christian Rasmussen in the No. 99 AO Racing car.
GTD PRO sees AO Racing's "Rexy" maintaining the lead, with Klaus Bachler now piloting the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Dennis Olsen follows 15 seconds behind in the No. 65 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3, while Madison Snow holds third in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
In GTD class, Wright Motorsports' Elliott Skeer leads in the No. 120 Porsche after Winward Racing's No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 received a drive-through penalty for a pit lane infraction. Ralf Aron (No. 80) and Maximilian Götz (No. 32) complete the top three, with Matt Bell's No. 13 AWA Corvette in fourth position.
With seven hours remaining in the race, competition remains fierce across all classes as teams navigate both mechanical challenges and strategic decisions in the final quarter of this endurance classic.
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