Overview
- At the 12-hour mark in Dubai, the No. 669 Team WRT BMW headed a BMW 1-2-3, with Paradine Competition’s No. 992 in second and WRT’s No. 27 third as four BMW M4 GT3 EVOs remained firmly in contention.
- Two front-runners fell out of victory contention after right‑rear wheel losses, with Winward’s No. 81 Mercedes retiring and HAAS RT’s No. 2 Audi dropping nearly 20 laps, while Ajith RedAnt Racing’s No. 93 Mercedes caught fire earlier and did not immediately return.
- Repeated Code 60 periods reshuffled strategies and track position, with early leader Kelvin van der Linde vaulting WRT’s BMW to the front on lap one as surprise polesitter Benjamin Paque’s TFT Mercedes faded and Dragon Racing’s Ferrari fought forward from P33 after an overboost penalty in qualifying.
- Porsche Penske swept the opening Roar session at Daytona led by Felipe Nasr, BMW M Team WRT topped session two with Sheldon van der Linde, Porsche Penske went 1-2 in session three with Laurens Vanthoor, and Cadillac’s Filipe Albuquerque set the pace in session four.
- IMSA sidelined three LMP2 entries — Tower Motorsports, Era Motorsport and Pratt Miller Motorsports — with stop‑plus‑60‑minute penalties for unapproved sensors, curtailing their Saturday testing programs.