IMSA: Meyer Shank Racing win the Rolex 24 at Daytona

The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura has won the 61st running Rolex 24 at Daytona after an incredible race.

GTP

The Rolex 24 got underway, with Blomqvist making a great start from pole position in the #60 Cadillac. However, the battle off the start line would not last long, as the Tower Motorsport LMP2 car would stop, exiting turn 6.

Once the full course yellow ended, Blomqvist led the way by three seconds and would be the last to make the team’s first stop. Meanwhile, ex-F1 driver Felipe Nasr would make a bad start, dropping down the order.

BMW would have a tough start to the race, struggling to keep the pace of the leading GTP cars. The #25 would grind to a halt on track, near the end of BMW’s stint, forcing the team to pit.

The BMW would change the hybrid kit and would return to the track later in the race, the team would lose over 40 seconds. The GTP class was extremely close with seven cars separated by six seconds.

Felipe Nasr would have issues over an hour into the race, stopping on the track after 40 laps. The Brazalian would restart his Porsche and would be able to continue with the race.

With less than four hours left a full course caution came out, allowing Pagenaud to take the race lead. 

Disaster for Porsche

Nick Tandy would suffer engine troubles with his #6 Penske Porsche and would be forced to pull in the pits. This would bring out another caution in the race, and another headache for Porsche, as they would retire from the race.

The sister Penske Motorsport car, #7 Porsche would return to the pits in the race as well. The team had found an issue with the engine cooling system, losing valuable positions on track.

With less than two and a half hours left in the race, Pagenaud would lead the way from Bourdais. The Cadillac would chase the MSR Acura team for the final hours of the race. Under safety car conditions, the #25 BMW would spin exciting the Le Mans chicane and would limp back to the pits.

A caution in the final hour of the race would mean the teams would make the final stops under saftey car conditions. Pole position man, Blomqvist would lead the pack with the #10 behind, making it an Acura one, two.

Blomqvist would lead, heading onto the final lap for the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura. This consistency has put the Meyer Shank Racing team in the history books, as they would win the 61^st edition of Rolex 24.

LMP2

Ben Keating had a great start and would lead the way in the #52 Oreca, with Francois Heriau behind. Keating would pit after running 12 seconds ahead of the TDS Racing LMP2 team, he would hand the car over to Alex Quinn.

Josh Pierson was in second place in the #35 car, he would have the #55 behind him in third, with Gianmaria Bruni at the wheel. Alex Quinn would not be able to hold off the TDS Racing LMP2 entry, driven by Pierson. 

An intense battle would break out later in the race between the Crowdstrike by APR Oreca Racing team and the #35 machine. Meanwhile, the Proton Competition team was catching up to the duo.

The LMP2 class would go down to the final lap of the race and would be between the #04 Crowdstrike team and the #55 Proton. It would be decided on the line by 0.016 and would go the way of the #55 Proton Competitiom car, with James Allen at the wheel.

LMP3

Nico Pino would start the race for the #33 Sean Creech Ligier and would lead the way into the first pitstops. However, leaving the pitlane the Andretti Autosport Ligier would emerge in front of the Sean Creech team.

Drama would strike for the Andretti Autosport team later on, with Rasmus Lindh receiving a penalty. The penalty was for making contact with the #18 Era Motorsport car, sending them into a spin.

Nico Varrone made his way up to second position in the AWA car and would be ahead of Alvarez. A great battle would break out between Pino and Varrone, as the two drivers battled for the race lead.

The MRS GT car would go on fire on the banked section of the circuit, this would bring out the seventh caution. 

The lead would eventually come back the way of the #33 Ligier, towards the end of the race. The #87 FASTMD Racing Ligier would grind to a halt heading onto the banking section in the last hour, causing a caution.

Wayne Boyd would lead comfortably heading onto the final stint, for the #17 AWA Racing LMP3. The team would lead by 11 laps and would take the chequered flag to win the LMP3 class.

GTD

Maro Engel would lead from the line and would maintain the lead in the GTD Pro class. He would have a great first stint, passing multiple cars. Antonio Garcia would also have an impressive first stint, driving the only Corvette in the field.

Mike Skeen would lead in the Team Korthoff Motorsport Mercedes, he would lead for almost two hours. The American driver would spin, losing the lead to David Pittard in the GTD Pro Aston Martin.

In the GTD category, Kyle Marcelli led the way in the #93 Racers Edge Acura early in the race. The Winward Racing Mercedes team would follow the #93 closley, as they made their way up the order.

The lead would go to the WeatherTech Racing team in the GTD Pro class and would be contested by the sole Chevrolet and the Vasser Sullivan Lexus. The #64 Aston Martin would bring out another caution in the race.

The race would get underway with one hour left, and the #27 Aston Martin would lead in the GTD class. Phillip Ellis in the #57 Mercedes was behind second place in the GTD class, as a caution came out on the final hour.

There would be a multiple-car crash on the restart bringing out another caution and would damage the #21 Ferrari. Once the race restarted Both the #27 Aston Martin and the #79 Mercedes would be leading in their classes.

The GTD class would be won by the #27 Heart of Racing team, Aston Martin, they would win the race by 5.363. The WeatherTech Racing Mercedes would win in the GTD Pro class, ahead of the #3 Corvette.