IMSA – The list of 55 crews for Daytona

The list for the 24 Hours of Daytona (Florida) contested on January 28 and 29 has been published. 12 prototypes, 5 PCs, 11 GTLMs and 27 GTDs will line up on the starting grid. In total, 55 cars will be present for the 55th edition.

Three Oreca 07s will be entered with Rebellion Racing, Dragonspeed and JDC-Miller Motorsports and will be among the best contenders for victory given their performance in testing. The 3 Cadillac DPi will be entered by Mustang Sampling Racing, Wayne Taylor Racing and Whelen Engineering Racing. Two Nissan DPi will be present with ESM, as well as two Mazda DPi, a Riley for VisitFlorida Racing and a Ligier JSP217 for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports.

The only notable change in the premier category since testing for the 24 Hours of Daytona is the entry of Brendon Hartley on the two Nissan DPi from ESM. Stéphane Sarrazin, driver of the No. 13 Rebellion Racing Oreca, will be one of the only French people entered in the first category with Nicolas lapierre et Loïc duval at Dragonspeed.

The PC category still has many provisional crews. Starworks Motorsports will enter two cars with Keating-Wickens-Cumming-Falb-Ruscitti in the No. 8 and Mayer-Dayson-Popow-Saavedra in the No. 88.

The GTLM promises great battles with 5 manufacturers involved: Corvette will seek to achieve another victory against Ferrari, Porsche et BMW. Les Ford GT, à la peine l’an dernier pour leurs débuts en compétition, seront plus à craindre puisque 4 modèles seront inscrits pour cette édition. Olivier Pla représentera les couleurs tricolores sur la n°68 en compagnie de Mücke-Johnson tandis que Sébastien Bourdais will do the same on the No. 66 alongside Müller-Hand, while their compatriots Patrick Pilet and Kévin Estre will drive the No. 911 and 911 Porsche 912 RSR respectively.

The GTD category will be the largest with 27 cars. 9 manufacturers will be represented: Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. This will notably be an opportunity to see the Acura NSX GT3 and Lexus RC F GT3 make their racing debut. After the confirmation of Maxime Martin at Turner Motorsports, Maro Engel was also announced on the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes where Tristan Vautier is competing. Jules Gounon will drive the No. 8 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R3 LMS GT29, while Emmanuel Collard will be in the Ebimotors Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

List of entrants for the 55th edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona