Winward 1–2 Opens GT-Only Day at Daytona Test as WRT BMWs Cap Prototype Running on Top

The focus turns to GT evaluations as GTP teams leave with near-identical pace across brands and only modest gains reported from Porsche’s updated 963.

Overview

Maxime Martin led a Winward Racing sweep in Sunday morning’s GT-only session with a 1:47.152, with Philip Ellis second and the RLL McLaren 720S GT3 Evo next fastest in GTD Pro.
Team WRT’s BMW M Hybrid V8s finished 1–2 in Saturday night’s Session 5, with Marco Wittmann edging Dries Vanthoor to close out the prototype program.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Colin Braun topped Session 3 and JDC-Miller’s Nico Pino led Session 4 as a tightly bunched GTP field saw all 11 cars run within a second at times, including the Aston Martin Valkyrie after early electrical issues.
Pratt Miller’s No. 73 frequently set the pace in LMP2 before sitting out the night, when CrowdStrike Racing by APR went quickest with Alex Quinn as Inter Europol logged the class’s highest mileage.
Porsche Penske’s 963 with ‘Evo’ aero updates turned its first Daytona laps with Matt Campbell reporting only a small difference, while GT teams debuted Michelin’s H1+ tire and AF Corse received a 30-minute penalty for using last year’s spec on Saturday.