Dries Vanthoor places BMW in pole position for the 24 Hours of Daytona

The session had started very badly for BMW. Sheldon van der Linde, at the wheel of the n°25, stopped on the inside part of the track, causing a red flag while no one had banked a lap. The South African was not able to restart. The clan of the propeller firm could however have a smile on Thursday since Dries Vanthoor proved to be the fastest at the wheel of the n°24, setting the reference time of the session in 1:33.895.

That is POLE POSITION for the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 for the Daytona 24 Hours! 🙌

What a lap by @vanthoordries1! 1:33.895 minutes were unbeatable in qualifying. 💪

Great job guys! 👏

Unfortunately, the #25 car stopped with a technical issue. pic.twitter.com/LFq8jZ6xaQ

— BMW M Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) January 23, 2025

The Belgian finished 06 seconds ahead of Nick Yelloly's #93 Acura ARX-0.291. Felipe Nasr placed the Porsche 963 No. 7 in third place, 0.385 seconds behind the leader. The first Cadillac finished just off the podium with the No. 31 driven by Jack Aitken, 0.455 seconds behind. The end of the session was lively: Tom Blomqvist (Acura No. 60) and Mirko Bortolotti (Lamborghini No. 63) came close to a big collision in the banking.

In LM P2, the session ended with a red flag following a track exit by PJ Hyett (Oreca n°99 AO Racing). Pole position in this category went to the n°22 United Autosports car through Daniel Goldburg. The American finished ahead of his compatriots Ben Keating (PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports) and Nick Boulle (United Autosports n°2).

Ford double in the GTD Pro category

The Ford Mustang GT3s put in a strong performance in GTD Pro, securing a one-two finish. Mike Rockenfeller set the benchmark time of 1:45.523. The experienced German beat Belgian Frédéric Vervish, also in a “Pony Car”, by 0.332 seconds. Dan Harper set the third fastest time in the No. 4 Paul Miller Racing BMW M3 GT48 EVO.

In GTD, Elliott Skeer set the fastest time with the #911 Wright Motorsports Porsche 3 GT120 R. The American finished ahead of Philip Ellis on the Mercedes-AMG GT3 No. 57 by just 0.018 seconds. The category podium was completed by a Lamborghini, the No. 45 from Wayne Taylor Racing driven by Trent Hindman.

The start of the 24 2025 Hours of Daytona will be given on Saturday at 19:40 p.m. (French time).

ALSO READ > Competitors, schedules… The program for the 24 2025 Hours of Daytona