Porsche Penske Motorsport’s victory in the 2025 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona Sunday afternoon was lauded as “something none of us could have dreamed of” by the team’s managing director, Jonathan Diuguid.
One of the most dramatic Rolex 24s in years, drama coursed up and down the order in the closing stages affecting the lead battles in every class. The battle for the overall victory was a big part of that and certainly did not disappoint in generating headlines.
The Porsche Penske vs. BMW RLL duel nearing race’s end didn’t quite go the distance, as the No. 24 M Hybrid V8 bowed out after contact caused the bodywork on the front-left corner of the car to rub with the tire, forcing Dries Vanthoor down after the final restart.
It didn’t ease the tension on the Penske pit wall, though, as the pair of factory 963s diced for the lead before Acura MSR’s Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 powered by Matt Campbell for second.
Behind the wheel in the winning Porsche, the final hour was beyond tense for Felipe Nasr, but a lot of respect was shown between the two sides of the garage as he and Matt Campbell battled with 20 minutes remaining.
“From the driver’s seat, it’s different emotions to everyone else,” Nasr said. “All I was thinking of was that I wanted to win this race for the team. I was third at the restart, and it’s hard to know how it’ll end up, but I knew the car was capable and I knew the team behind this is great.
“There was always going to be drama with one trophy and two cars. I felt like I had the pace to go forward, though, and that’s what I did. We all get the same opportunity; I didn’t want to create any trouble so I tried a clean pass and I knew I had to move forward because the Acura was close. I had to go for it.”
The Brazillian’s performance on new tires to fight past the sister car at the end was masterful. Not only did it help capture back-to-back wins for himself, Porsche and Penske, but it also completed a remarkable “Grand Slam” of endurance wins for Nick Tandy, who has now won the Le Mans 24 Hours, Nurburgring 24 Hours, Spa 24 Hours and the Daytona 24 Hours overall — all with Porsche.
Reshuffling the driver lineups over the winter paid off for the 40-year-old Briton, who was on the outside looking in last year as part of the No. 6 crew.
“To be the first person ever to do something is quite unbelievable,” Tandy said. “You have to be proud you are put in a position to be able to compete in these races. It’s something I’ve wanted to check off the list. Winning Daytona is massive by itself and to win just one of these would be something special for any career, but this is different.”
For Laurens Vanthoor, it was a particularly memorable one too — his first overall win at Daytona.
“It’s always difficult to describe your feelings a couple of moments after it happened,” he said. “I’ve been wanting this badly for a long time and if I went back 10 years ago I couldn’t have dreamed of it. I couldn’t be more grateful to sit here.”
When asked by RACER to comment on BMW’s performance throughout the race and specifically his brother Dries — who dropped out of the top three in the final hour in the No. 24 — he gave an emotional response.
“It’s special from a personal point of view, to see how many laps a Vanthoor led,” he said. “He’s my younger brother and to see him up there doing a tremendous job… At the end, I was like, ‘Dries, p*** off!’ But then you feel kind of sad when it doesn’t work out.
“BMW were strong all race; they were really quick and I always saw them as a main contender. Dries is doing a very good job and I am sure his day will come.”
As for the Porsche and Penske tie-up, this is another momentous occasion. It may not have been the dream 1-2 finish in the end, but the team led 517 laps and kept the train rolling after the GTP side of the operation captured the Rolex 24 and a sweep of titles last year.
“Today was a team effort,” Diuguid concluded. “I saw the stats; we made sure we used our two-car approach so that a PPM car was out front, controlling the race whenever we could. Every car had a chance to win today and we were the ones that came out on top because we covered all these bases to cover attacks from the Acuras, BMWs and Cadillacs.”
What else lies in store for the team in 2025? The WEC campaign kicks off soon and Sebring isn’t that far away. Once again, PPM has the chance to win the Rolex 24 and Le Mans 24 in the same year. Will it find a way to make the most of this rare opportunity?
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