Acura kicks off the new GTP era with a win at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona

A new era of top-level endurance racing began at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the opening race of the 2023 IMSA Sports Car Championship and the first to feature the new GTP pinnacle class open to LMDh and LMH hybrid racing cars.

Only LMDh racing cars from Acura, BMW, Cadillac, and Porsche were on the course, with Acura (the others were V-8s) the only manufacturer to have a V-6 engine in the lead.

The Meyer Shank Racing number 60 Acura ARX-06 driven by Tom Blomqvist, Colin Brown, Helio Castroneves, and Simon Pagenaug crossed the finish line first. It finished 4.1 seconds ahead of the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 driven by Tom Blomqvist, Colin Brown, Helio Castroneves, and Simon Pajenaug. He finished 4.1 seconds ahead of the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 of Wayne Taylor Racing and Andretti Autosport, driven by Filipe Albuquerque, Luis Delletraz, Brendon Hartley and Ricky Taylor.

Rounding out the top three in the GTP class was the No. 1 Cadillac V-LMDh of No. Cadillac Racing with Chip Ganassi, driven by Sebastian Bourdais, Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande.

It was Acura's third consecutive win at the 24 Hours of Daytona and second consecutive one-two finish.

The No. 60 ARX-06 started the race from the pole position and dominated most of the race until the caution flag came out. The two Cadillac V-LMDh's also put up a good fight, but were eventually outpaced; BMW's two M Hybrid V8's were also off the pace, but proved more reliable than the pair of Porsche 963's; No. 7 lost several laps due to a battery change and No. 6 had to retire; No. 6 Car 6 retired in a puff of smoke.

First in the LMP2 class and seventh overall was the No. 55 Oreca 07 from Proton Competition, driven by James Allen, Gianmaria Bruni, Francesco Pizzi, and Fred Poordad.

And first place in the LMP3 class and 15th overall went to the No. 17 Duqueine D-08 (AWA), driven by Wayne Boyd, Anthony Mantella, Thomas Merrill, and Nicolas Vallone.

Further down the field, the GTD car finished ahead of the GTD Pro car. In this case, the Heart of Racing Team ran the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, driven by Romain de Angelis, Ian James, Marco Seelensen, and Darren Turner, finishing first in the GTD class and 16th overall GTD No. 79 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3 Evo (WeatherTech Racing, drivers Maro Engel, Jules Gnon, Daniel Juncadella, and Cooper McNeil) finished first in the Pro class and 17th overall.

The next race on the 2023 Sports Car Championship calendar is the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 18.