The remaining best times of the session went to the #24 BMW WRT and the #10 Cadillac WTR.
Advertisement
GTP cars participated in six of the seven sessions, as the last one was reserved for Bronze-rated drivers. In the accumulated classification, the three Porsches occupy the first three positions:
Overall cumulative GTP results (fastest lap):
Penske Porsche #7 (Nasr/Andlauer/Heinrich) – 1m36.327s (Session 1) JDC-Miller Porsche #85 (Pino/Frederick/van der Helm) +0.004 sec (Session 1) Penske Porsche #6 (L. Vanthoor/Estre/Campbell) +0.108 (Session 1) WTR Cadillac #10 (R. Taylor/Albuquerque/Stevens) +0.404 (Session 4) WRT BMW #24 (S. van der Linde/D. Vanthoor/Frijns/Rast) +0.415 (Session 2) WTR Cadillac #40 (J. Taylor/Deletraz/Herta) +0.574 (Session 1) Action Express Cadillac #31 (Aitken/Bamber/Vesti/Zilisch) +0.659 (Session 4) WRT BMW #25 (Marciello/Eng/Wittmann/Magnussen) +0.820 (Session 4) Meyer Shank Acura #60 (Blomqvist/Braun/Dixon/Allmendinger) +0.968 (Session 3) HRC Acura #93 (van der Zande/Yelloly/Palou/Ohta) +1.017 (Session 4) THOR Aston Martin #23 (Gunn/de Angelis/Riberas) +1,202 (Session 3)
Advertisement
Porsche made its mark already in the first session on Friday. Lap times in the low 1m36s range would be enough to secure the top three spots in the overall standings.
All lap times were achieved in race conditions, as 1m34s or even 1m33s are expected for qualifying.
Long-term analysis: Porsche outperforms its rivals
Consistency is, of course, much more important than single lap times. To keep it simple, we have taken into account all laps from all sessions completed in 1m40s.
Advertisement
Since the slower cars naturally logged more laps in the 1:40 range than the fast ones, the differences here tend to be underestimated, rather than overestimated. However, a clear picture emerges:
Penske Porsche #7: 1m38.095s (113 laps in 1:40) Penske Porsche #6: +0.096 (119 laps) WTR Cadillac #10: +0.358 (125 laps) JDC Miller Porsche #85: +0.372 (99 laps) WTR Cadillac #40: +0.382 (120 laps) WRT BMW #24: +0.397 (162 laps) Meyer Shank Acura #60 (Blomqvist/Braun/Dixon/Allmendinger) +0.439 (111 laps) HRC Acura #93 (van der Zande/Yelloly/Palou/Ohta) +0.528 (128 laps) Action Express Cadillac #31 (Aitken/Bamber/Vesti/Zilisch) +0.567 (169 laps) WRT BMW #25 (Marciello/Eng/Wittmann/Magnussen) +0.627 (138 laps) THOR Aston Martin #23 (Gunn/de Angelis/Riberas) +0.835 (36 laps)
The Aston Martin missed sessions 3 and 4 due to an engine change and therefore recorded very few representative laps.
Advertisement
Both Acura ARX-06s missed much of the first session due to unspecified minor issues, but gained momentum afterwards.
Porsche clearly sets the pace on long runs. The two works Penske cars have moved away significantly at the front.
The strong performance of the privately entered JDC-Miller Porsche in 2025 specification is a surprise. This shows that Porsche clearly had the advantage during the pre-test.
To put the times in perspective: Felipe Nasr’s 1m36.327s would only have been seventh fastest at the 2025 24 Hours of Daytona.
Advertisement
That means there’s still room for improvement, especially since Cadillac and Acura received better power-to-weight ratios in both speed ranges and Porsche in the high-speed range compared to last year’s POP.
Furthermore, the updates to the four LMDh cars have not made them slower.
Cadillac has established itself with both cars as the second strongest force. The No. 24 BMW WRT and No. 60 Acura MSR are also within a tenth of a second of the third-place Cadillac in terms of average lap times.
Advertisement
Of course, WRT had to take advantage of the test sessions to get started in IMSA competition. The new factory team for 2026 should receive a “rookie bonus” of sorts for the race weekend.
Aston Martin, on the other hand, seems to be struggling. The engine change resulted in a significant loss of track time, but the difference with the other manufacturers is substantial.
Top 20 Percent Laps: Cadillac Gets Closer
Since the 24 Hours of Daytona is often decided in a sprint to the finish, we also take a look at the fastest 20 percent of all lap times under 1m40s. The result largely confirms the previous observations:
Advertisement
Penske Porsche #6 – 1m37.135s JDC Miller Porsche #85 +0.102 sec WTR Cadillac #10 +0.133 Penske Porsche #7 +0.177 WTR Cadillac #40 (J. Taylor/Deletraz/Herta) +0.341 WRT BMW #24 (S. van der Linde/D. Vanthoor/Frijns/Rast) +0.457 Meyer Scion Acura #60 (Blomqvist/Braun/Dixon/Allmendinger) +0.545 WRT BMW #25 (Marciello/Eng/Wittmann/Magnussen) +0.595 Action Express Cadillac #31 (Aitken/Bamber/Vesti/Zilisch) +0.598 HRC Acura #93 (van der Zande/Yelloly/Palou/Ohta) +0.670 THOR Aston Martin #23 (Gunn/de Angelis/Riberas) +0.936
Porsche is still on top, but Cadillac can close the gap when it comes to fastest laps.
Advertisement
This pattern was seen repeatedly in the 2025 World Endurance Championship, where Cadillac proved to be extremely competitive in qualifying and in fast individual laps.
BMW and Acura remain roughly in the same place over the long term, the difference even tends to be slightly larger.
What the teams say
“We completed the test program cleanly and were able to concentrate exclusively on our plan. The Porsche 963 performed perfectly and the drivers put in excellent performances.” said Porsche LMDh project manager Urs Kuratle.
Advertisement
“The results from JDC-Miller MotorSports show that our customer team has also made notable progress over the winter. We are perfectly prepared for the season opener, although we will only really be able to evaluate the competitive order during race week.”
Filipe Albuquerque, from the #10 Cadillac, was also satisfied: “Happy with the balance of the car and how everything went. Now it’s time to analyze the data from these days and prepare for the race.”
Sheldon van der Linde hinted that BMW might not have shown its full potential yet: “We have spent the last few days working on initial adjustments as new members joined the team, establishing a solid foundation to move forward.
Advertisement
“In pre-race training, the focus will now be on performance, so that we have a fast car in the race with which we can hopefully fight for victory.”
If the balance of payments remains unchanged, Porsche is the clear favorite for victory. Since all manufacturers except Aston Martin enjoyed a trouble-free test, IMSA should have a good understanding of where the updated cars stand.
Three more practice sessions and qualifying are planned for Thursday and Friday.
Also read:
Complete entry list for the 2026 24 Hours of Daytona
To read more articles from Motorsport.com visit our website.