The 63rd edition of the Rolex 24 At Daytona will take place from 23 to 26 January. The endurance race at the Daytona International Speedway in the US state of Florida is the opening of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. For Mercedes-AMG, this marks the start of the title defence mission. The performance and sports car brand from Affalterbach won all six titles in GTD class contested in the 2024 IMSA series and therefore goes into the new season as the reigning champion. The foundation for this triumph was laid at last year's 24-hour race in Daytona with a GTD victory.
The first test sessions in the run-up to the endurance classic took place last weekend at the Roar Before The Rolex 24. The weather conditions were very changeable throughout the weekend. This led to delays and shortened sessions on Sunday. The Mercedes-AMG teams primarily used the test runs to optimise the torque sensors on the drive shafts - which have been mandatory in the IMSA series since this season. A total of 61 cars have been entered for this year's edition in the GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD classes. Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing is represented by a powerful line-up of five teams, each fielding one Mercedes-AMG GT3, and 20 drivers in the GTD Pro and GTD classes. Team GetSpeed and 75 Express will be competing in the GTD Pro class, while Lone Star Racing, Korthoff Competition Motors and Winward Racing in the GTD class. The starting positions for the 24-hour race will be determined in qualifying next Thursday.
GTD Pro class: Two Mercedes-AMG GT3
Team GetSpeed will start the race with American Anthony Bartone and AMG Performance Drivers Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz in car number #69. Belgian Maxime Martin, who has been racing for AMG since January, will drive at Daytona a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the first time.
Team owner Kenny Habul and Performance Drivers Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Mikaël Grenier will share the cockpit of the #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the Australian Team 75 Express. Maro Engel and Jules Gounon were part of the GTD Pro winning team in 2023.
GTD class: Three Mercedes-AMG GT3
Winward Racing will line up with AMG Performance Drivers Lucas Auer and Philip Ellis as well as Indy Dontje and Russell Ward - Dontje, Ellis and Ward were also part of the line-up for the GTD victories in 2021 and 2024. The German-Texan team has its sights set on defending the title with the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The two Performance Drivers Maximilian Götz and Daniel Morad will line up for Korthoff Competition Motors. Kenton Koch and Seth Lucas complete the line-up of the #32. Götz and Koch have also being part of the squad last year. The team saw the chequered flag in fifth position.
Scott Andrews, Dan Knox and Eric Filgueiras will be joined this year by AMG Performance Driver Ralf Aron in the #80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Lone Star Racing. The 26-year-old is competing in a race at Daytona for the first time, but already tested with the team at Daytona International Speedway in December. The team made its debut at the 2024 Rolex 24 At Daytona and finished the race in place eight.
