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The Daytona International Speedway combined road course

The 2018 24 Hours of Daytona (formally the 56th Rolex 24 at Daytona) was an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned endurance sports car race held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on January 27–28, 2018. It was the first of twelve 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races, the 56th running of the event, and the first of four rounds of the North American Endurance Cup.

Renger van der Zande in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R started from pole position after recording the fastest lap in qualifying and kept it for most of the opening hour. Filipe Albuquerque's No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing entry took over first place from van der Zande after the first round of pit stops. The car kept the lead for the next five hours before losing it to Team Penske's No. 6 Acura ARX-05 driven by Hélio Castroneves. Whelen Engineering Racing, Team Penske and Mustang Sampling Racing traded the lead several times over the following twelve hours. Mustang Sampling Racing's Albuquerque, Christian Fittipaldi and João Barbosa kept the lead in the final third of the race to win outright in a record-braking distance of 808 laps and 2,876.48 miles (4,629.25 km). Mike Conway, Eric Curran. Stuart Middleton and Felipe Nasr took second in the sister No. 10 Whelen Engineering Racing vehicle. The No. 54 CORE Autosport Oreca 07 of Jon Bennett, Colin Braun, Romain Dumas and Loïc Duval was the highest-ranked Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) global-specification car in third.

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 67 Ford GT driven by Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook, won the Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) class, after getting past the No. 66 sister car of Sébastien Bourdais, Dirk Müller and Joey Hand at its final pit stop. The team led all but nine laps in the category to claim Chip Ganassi Racing's 200th motor racing victory. The pole-sitting No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R of Antonio García, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller completed the class podium. Having led the last four and a half hours, the No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán driven by Mirko Bortolotti, Rik Breukers, Rolf Ineichen and Franck Perera won the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) category to claim Lamborghini's first twenty-four hour race victory. This was despite them having to start from the back of the grid for failing a mandatory post-qualifying stall test. The No. 86 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX of A. J. Allmendinger, Trent Hindman, Katherine Legge and Álvaro Parente came second and Andrea Caldarelli, Bryce Miller, Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow placed Paul Miller Racing's No. 48 Lamborghini Huracán in third.

The result of the race meant Albuquerque, Barbosa and Fittipaldi led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 35 points. Conway, Curran, Middleton and Nasr were in second and Bennett, Braun, Dumas and Duval were third with 30 points. Westbrook, Dixon and Briscoe took the lead in the GTLM points standings with their teammates Bourdais, Hand and Müller placing second. Garcia, Magnussen and Rockenfeller rounded out the top three. Bortolotti, Perera, Breukers and Inechen led the GTD Drivers' Championship, followed by the second-placed Allmendinger, Parente, Legge and Hindman, and Caldarelli. Sellers, Miller and Snow were third. Mustang Sampling Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and GRT Grasser Racing Team were the leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships. Cadillac, Ford and Lamborghini assumed first place in their separate Manufacturers' Championships with eleven races left in the season.

Background

Entry list

Fifty cars were officially entered for the 24 Hours of Daytona with the bulk of entries in the Prototype and Gran Touring Daytona (GTD) categories.^[1] The 2017 race winner, Wayne Taylor Racing, returned to defend their title.^[2] Three existing teams, Action Express Racing, Spirit of Daytona Racing and Extreme Speed Motorsports, each fielded two Daytona Prototype International (DPi) cars called Cadillac DPi-V.R and Nissan Onroak DPi. Wayne Taylor Racing sent a solitary Cadillac DPi-V.R chassis to the race.^[3]Penske Racing made their full-time sports car racing competition comeback for the first time since the 2009 Rolex Sports Car Series. They fielded a pair of Honda-powered Acura ARX-05 DPis for 2018.^[4]Mazda returned to sports car racing after withdrawing with three races left in the 2017 season so their duo of RT24-Ps could be re-engineered by German outfit Team Joest.^[5] They were joined by ten global-specification Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) cars, represented by three out of the four major chassis: a sextet of Oreca 07s entered by JDC-Miller Motorsports, Jackie Chan DCR JOTA (two each), Performance Tech Motorsports, CORE Autosport (one each). a trio of Ligier JS P217s utilised by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (one) and United Autosports (two), and one BAR1 Motorsports-operated Riley Mk. 30.^[1][6]

Two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso (pictured in 2016) made a one-off appearance for United Autosports for Daytona.

After the retirement of the aging Prototype Challenge class at the end of 2017 due to declining interest from teams,^[7]Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) was made the highest-ranking class below the Prototype category in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It had nine cars from five different manufacturers entered for Daytona.^[2] The BMW M8 GTE made its racing competition debut at the track, and Team RLL entered two chassis for the season.^[8]Porsche fielded a pair of 911 RSRs for the second successive season, and Chip Ganassi Racing entered their two Ford GTs for the third consecutive year.^[9]Ferrari once again aligned with Risi Competizione for one 488 GTE,^[9] while Corvette Racing transported their aging duo of C7.Rs to Daytona.^[7] GTD comprised twenty-one cars amongst eight GT3 manufacturers.^[3] Ferrari was the most represented marque in the category with four 488s: two by Scuderia Corsa and one each from Spirit of Race and Risi Competizione.^[2][7] A mix of teams and automotive brands made up the rest of the GTD field. These included two GRT Grasser Racing Team-entered Lamborghini Huracáns with a third by Paul Miller Racing, and a trio of Riley Motorsports entered Mercedes-AMGs. There were three Acura NSXs utilised by Michael Shank Racing and HART and three Porsche 911 Rs with one each from Park Place Motorsports, Wright Motorsports and Manthey Racing. Other cars fielded were a duo of Audi R8 LMS from Magnus Racing and Land Motorsport, two Lexus RC Fs by 3GT Racing and one BMW M6 entered by Turner Motorsport.^[6]

Each car was driven by two drivers who contested the entire WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. They were joined by one North American Endurance Cup racer and one or two extra drivers.^[10] These additional participants were recruited from a variety of racing categories, including the FIA World Endurance Championship (such as Gustavo Menezes for JDC-Miller Motorsports), the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (such as René Rast for Mazda Team Joest), and the IndyCar Series (such as Ryan Hunter-Reay for Wayne Taylor Racing) among others.^[11] Some drivers competed at Daytona on a one-off basis, such as two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso,^[12]Williams driver Lance Stroll and Formula E racers Felix Rosenqvist and António Félix da Costa.^[13] Also entering were A. J. Allmendinger, Justin Marks, Brendan Gaughan and Austin Cindric from NASCAR,^[14] and 2017 Formula Three European Champion Lando Norris.^[15] Stuart Middleton won the Sunoco Whelen Challenge by taking the GT4 category title in his debut year in the British GT Championship, earning him a seat with Action Express Racing.^[16]

Preview

Daytona International Speedway in 2015

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the 24 Hours of Daytona was part of the series' schedule for the 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in August 2017.^[17] It was the fifth consecutive year the race was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the 56th 24 Hours of Daytona,^[17] counting the period between 1962 and 2013 when it was a round of the World Sportscar Championship, the IMSA GT Championship, the United States Road Racing Championship and the Rolex Sports Car Series, respectively.^[18][19] The 24 Hours of Daytona was the first of twelve scheduled sports car endurance races of 2018 by IMSA, and served as the opening round of the four-race North American Endurance Cup.^[17] The race was held at the twelve-turn 3.56 mi (5.73 km) Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on 27–28 January.^[17][18]

NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who built the Daytona International Speedway in 1959, conceived the 24 Hours of Daytona. He sought to attract European sports car endurance racing to the United States and provide international exposure to Daytona.^[19] The event was first run for three hours in 1962 before quadrupling its length two years later.^[20] It switched to a 24-hour race in 1966 and has remained that way all but once since then. In 1972 motorsport's world governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, requested it be shortened to six hours for safety reasons. No race was held in 1974 because of the oil crisis.^[21] The 24 Hours of Daytona garnered an early reputation for being an American detour for European drivers. IMSA began adopting its own car regulations in the early 1980s when the race's popularity peaked. This isolated the event from the international motor racing scene thereafter.^[19] Regardless, the 24 Hours of Daytona, along with the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is informally considered part of the "Triple Crown of Endurance Racing".^[18]

The week before the official three-day test session at the circuit, IMSA altered the balance of performance in all three categories to create parity in the classes. 10 kg (22 lb) of weight was added to the Cadillac DPi-V.Rs compared to 2017 but the decrease of handling abilities was countered by having the car's top speed raised by having its air restrictor increased by 1.8 mm (0.071 in). The duo of Nissan Onroak DPis and the two Acura ARX-05s had their weight increased to 940 kg (2,070 lb) to lower their performance, 10 kg (22 lb) more than the LMP2 chassis and the pair of Mazda RT24-Ps. The Nissan and Mazda engines were not altered because IMSA was satisfied with their performances, but the series changed the aerodynamic packages on some Prototypes which affected their handing abilities. The debuting BMW M8 GTE's weight was established at 1,250 kg (2,760 lb) and its turbocharger boost curve was revised over its predecessor, the BMW M6 GTLM. The Mercedes-AMG GTD car had its top speed raised slightly with the enlargement of its air restrictor by 1 mm (0.039 in).^[22]

Testing

Felipe Nasr (pictured in 2015) set the fastest overall lap time in testing for Action Express Racing's concluding day.

All 50 entries were involved in three days worth of testing divided into seven sessions held at the circuit from 5–7 January.^[23]João Barbosa set the fastest time early in the first day's running with a time of 1 minute and 37.266 seconds for the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac.^[24] Co-driver Filipe Albuquerque later improved in the second session to a 1 minute and 37.196 seconds lap.^[25] The fastest LMP2 lap came from Colin Braun in the No. 54 CORE Autosport Oreca 07 who was second-fastest overall. The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac driven by Renger van der Zande placed third.^[25]Tristan Vautier set the fourth-fastest lap time for Spirit of Daytona in its No. 90 Cadillac. Ho-Pin Tung in the No. 78 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA Oreca 07 rounded out the top five.^[26]Laurens Vanthoor led GTLM in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR with a 1 minute and 44.065 seconds lap in the second session, and teammate Nick Tandy in the sister No. 911 was third. They were separated by Richard Westbrook's No. 67 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT.^[27] GTD was topped by the No. 11 GRT Grasser Team Racing Lamborghini Huracán of Rolf Ineichen and later Franck Perera. They were ahead of Matteo Cairoli's No. 59 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 R.^[25][26]

The second day's testing had Felipe Nasr top the time sheets in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac at 1 minute and 36.793 seconds. Jordan Taylor improved Wayne Taylor Racing's No. 10 Cadillac best time and was second quickest overall. Albuquerue was slower than the previous day and was third. Eddie Cheever III, driving the No. 90 Spirit of Racing Cadillac, was fourth-fastest by setting a faster lap than co-driver Vautier in the day's second session. The No. 78 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA Oreca 07 was the highest-placed LMP2 car in fifth with Alex Brundle driving. The No. 66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT of Sébastien Bourdais moved to the top of GTLM with a lap time at 1 minute and 43.795 seconds in the fourth session. Gianmaria Bruni was second-quickest in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR. Ryan Briscoe put the sister No. 67 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT in third place, and Alessandro Pier Guidi's No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE was fourth-fastest. GTD was still led by the No. 11 Grasser Team Racing Lamborghini Huracán car courtesy of Ineichen's lap on the first day. Manthey Racing's No. 59 Porsche 911 R remained second, but driver Sven Müller improved its best lap time.^[28][29]

The third and final day of testing featured a qualifying session to determine the locations of the team's pit stalls and garages for the race three weeks later.^[30] Nasr's No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac set the fastest overall testing lap time of all drivers with a 1 minute and 35.806 seconds effort. The second-fastest car was the No. 90 Spirit of Racing Cadillac of Vautier and Albuquerque putting the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac in third position. Wayne Taylor Racing placed fourth from a lap by van der Zande and Dane Cameron completing the top five overall runners in the No. 6 Penske Racing Acura ARX-05. Joey Hand set the fastest overall GTLM testing lap in the No. 66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT with a 1 minute and 43.610 seconds lap. Oliver Gavin's No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R was second, followed by the sister No. 67 Ford GT driven by Briscoe. Ineichen's lap from the first day of testing was never bettered and the No. 11 GRT Grasser Team Racing Lamborghini Huracán remained the fastest GTD car. Cairoli's first session lap in the No. 59 Porsche 911 R fielded by Manthey Racing was fast enough to keep it second in class.^[31]

Post-testing balance of performance adjustments

After testing, IMSA adjusted the balance of performance for the second time in all categories after analysing data of the car's performances. The Cadillac DPi-V.Rs had their fuel capacity enlarged by 1 l (0.22 imp gal; 0.26 US gal) along with their refuelling restrictors by 0.5 l (0.11 imp gal; 0.13 US gal) but their air restrictors were 0.6 mm (0.024 in). The size of the fuel tanks in the Acura ARX-05 and the Nissan Onroak DPis were increased by 4 l (0.88 imp gal; 1.1 US gal) and 2 l (0.44 imp gal; 0.53 US gal) with the size of both car's fuel restrictors increased by 1.5 mm (0.059 in). Nissan Onroak DPis boost pressure was increased to peak at 7,100 rpm. The Mazda RT24-Ps were 15 kg (33 lb) lighter. Its rev limit was raised to 8,600 rpm and its air restrictor was lengthened by 0.5 mm (0.020 in). The Acura, Nissan and Mazda DPis gurney flaps were adjusted for aerodynamic purposes.^[32] All GTLM cars bar the Ferrari 488 GTE had the size of their fuel tanks adjusted. The Chevrolet Corvette's C7.R's top speed was lowered through rear wing angles alterations by two degrees, while the Ford GT's angles were increased by three degrees. The Porsche 911 RSRs performance was lowered as its fuel restrictors were reduced in size by 1 mm (0.039 in). In GTD, the Acura NSX GT3 lost 10 kg (22 lb) in weight and the Mercedes-AMG was made 15 kg (33 lb) heavier. Turbocharger adjustments were made to the Audi R8 LMS, Lamborghini Huracán, and the BMW M6 cars.^[32]

Practice and qualifying

Four practice sessions were held before the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday. The first two sessions on Thursday morning and afternoon were an hour. The third held later that evening ran for 90 minutes; the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.^[33]

Rast in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P set the fastest lap of the first practice session at 1 minute and 37.428 seconds, 0.007 seconds faster than Vautier's Spirit of Racing's No. 90 Cadillac. Jordan Taylor put the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac in third overall. Albuquerue placed the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing car in fourth. The highest-placed LMP2 car was Brundle's No. 78 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA entry in fifth place.^[34] Early in the session, Phil Hanson made an error on cold tires that put him into the turn five tire barrier, damaging the front of the No. 23 United Autosports Ligier JS P2.^[35] Practice was red-flagged for 8 minutes and 49 seconds so his car could be removed from the circuit.^[34] In GTLM, the No. 66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT of Hand topped the time sheets with a lap of 1 minute and 44.571 seconds. Per Guidi put the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE in second. Vanthoor in Porsche's No. 912 911 RSR was third. Miguel Molina's No. 82 Risi Competizione's Ferrari 488 GT3 was fastest in GTD. Pedro Lamy set the second-fastest class lap in Spirit of Race's No. 51 entry.^[34]

In the second practice session, Hélio Castroneves in the No. 6 Penske Acura ARX-05 recorded the fastest lap of the day with a 1 minute and 37.096 seconds effort. He was ahead of the No. 22 Extreme Speed Motorsports Nissan Onroak DPi of Nicolas Lapierre and Albquerque's No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing car. The leading LMP2 car was Colin Braun behind the wheel of the No. 54 CORE Autosport car in fourth. Jonathan Bomarito rounded out the top five in Mazda Team Joest's No. 55 vehicle.^[36]Patrick Pilet led the GTLM in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR with a 1 minute and 43.902 seconds lap set late in the session. Jan Magnussen's No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R was second. Westbrook in the No. 66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT rounded out the top three in the category.^[36]Álvaro Parente's No. 86 Michael Shank Racing Acura-NSX GT3 was fastest in GTD, while Molina was 0.242 seconds slower in the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3.^[37]

Renger van der Zande (pictured in 2016) took the overall pole position for Wayne Taylor Racing.

Thursday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three groups and lasted for a total of 75 minutes.^[33] GTD cars were sent onto the track first for fifteen minutes with a ten-minute interval before those grouped in GTLM and Prototype had two separate identically timed sessions. Regulations stipulate that teams are required to nominate a single driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid so that the Prototype and GTLM cars began ahead of the GTD field.^[10] Van Der Zande in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing car clinched the third pole position of his career,^[38] on his final lap with a time of 1 minute and 36.083 seconds despite running deep at turn five through later braking.^[39] This was his team's first pole position at Daytona since Max Angelelli in the 2010 race.^[38] He was joined on the grid's front row by Castroneves' No. 7 Penske Racing Acura ARX-05 which had the pole position in the closing minutes until van der Zande's lap. On his final timed lap, Albuquerue qualified the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac in third place. Patricio O'Ward took fourth in the No. 38 Performance Tech Racing Oreca 07 to become the field's highest-placed LMP2 car.^[40] Early pace setter Vautier in the No. 90 Spirit of Racing car ended up fifth, while Robin Frijns' No. 78 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA entry secured sixth.^[39] Nasr was going faster but stopped on the track with an electrical fault and was restricted to seventh.^[41] Braun qualified the No. 54 CORE Autosport car eighth, Bomarito in the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P was ninth, and Cameron's No. 6 Penske Racing entry rounded out the top ten.^[42] Lapierre was unable to set a lap time in the No. 22 Extreme Speed Motorsports car after locking his brakes on his first timed lap, driving into the tyre barriers at the West Horseshoe, damaging its front-left suspension.^[39][43] Extreme Speed Motorsports' No. 2 vehicle did not take part due to a precautionary engine switch.^[40] Mazda Team Joest's No. 77 car was absent because of a pre-qualifying data irregularity.^[43]

Jan Magnussen (pictured in 2009) claimed pole position in the GTLM class for Corvette Racing.

In GTLM, Magnussen's No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R drafted his teammate Gavin and took his fourth class pole position in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He suppressed Hand's 2017 category lap record of the Daytona International Speedway with a time of 1 minute and 42.779 seconds. Magnussen was 0.019 seconds faster than the second-placed qualifier Hand in the No. 66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT. Following in third was Vanthoor's No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR, with the sister No. 911 car driven by Pilet taking fourth.^[44] Westbrook completed the top five class competitors in the slower of the two Ford GTs.^[40]Daniel Serra in the No. 51 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GT3 was the first driver to record a GTD lap time in the 1 minute and 46 second range midway through.^[40][45] This secured him the second pole position of his career, and his first in any class since the 2016 Monterey Grand Prix with a 1 minute and 46.407 seconds lap. Molina made it an all-Ferrari category front row in the No. 82 Risi Competizione car.^[44] The No. 11 GRT Grasser Team Racing Lamborghini Huracán of Mirko Bortolotti was the third-fastest class qualifier, but the car was demoted to the rear of the GTD field for failing a mandatory stall test in post-qualifying technical inspection. Hence, Jack Hawksworth inherited third in the No. 15 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3.^[44]Alessandro Balzan's No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 started fourth, and Dominik Baumann's slower Lexus rounded out the top five.^[40] Two GTD cars failed to record a lap time: The No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 R's tire punctured while on its out lap, and P1 Motorsport's No. 73 Mercedes-AMG GT3 had brake problems.^[46]

The third practice session ran at night and had Vautier's No. 90 Spirit of Race car set the fastest overall lap of 1 minute and 37.210 seconds. Castroneves was almost two-tenths of a second behind in second, with the No. 22 Extreme Speed Motorsports entry of Pipo Derani in third. Harry Tincknell in the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P placed fourth in the time sheets. Norris' No. 23 United Autosports car was running quicker and completed the top five.^[47] Kyle Masson caused the session's first stoppage when his No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca 07 ran out of fuel on the track requiring recovery back to the pit lane. Later, Gustavo Menezes' No. 99 JDC-Miller Motorsports car blew its right-rear tire entering turn six at high-speed. Though he controlled his car throughout and avoided hitting the wall, practice was stopped for 12 minutes.^[48] Ford GTs took the first two placings in GTLM with Bourdais' No. 66 car faster than the No. 67 sister entry of Westbrook by two-tenths of a second. Bortolotti's No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán led GTD, and Sam Bird, aboard the No. 64 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3, was second in class.^[48]

Mike Conway led the last practice session in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing entry with a time of 1 minute and 36.865 seconds. Stroll's No. 37 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA car was second-fastest. The No. 90 Spirit of Race Cadillac driven by Vautier set the third-quickest lap. Rast's No. 77 Mazda Team Joest car, along with Albuquerque's No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing entry completed the top five overall entrants.^[49] Though the session passed relatively peacefully, the right-rear tire on the No. 32 United Autosports vehicle driven by Bruno Senna blew while circulating the track.^[49][50] In GTLM, Hand once again went fastest in the class with a lap of 1 minute and 44.602 seconds. Bruni was second-fastest in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR, and his teammate Pilet placed third in the sister No. 911 Porsche. Cairoli set the fastest time in GTD, followed by Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 car.^[51]

Pre-race

Ricky Taylor, co-driver of the No. 6 Penske entry, checked himself into practical quarantine because he had been suffering from flu for three days. He was prescribed Oseltamivir, and advised not to come into contact with his teammates.^[52] Meanwhile, Tomy Drissi withdrew from the race due to business commitments, leaving the No. 20 BAR1 Motorsports Riley Mk. 30 car to operate as a four-person entry.^[53] The No. 2 Extreme Speed Motorsports, the No. 71 P1 Motorsports Mercedes-AMG, and the No. 77 Mazda entries were sent to the rear of their respective class fields because their teams changed their respective starting drivers. Although Paul Miller Racing and Mazda changed engines in their respective cars (the No. 48 Lamborghini and the No. 77 RT24-P), they were not demoted any grid places since the race lasted more than six hours.^[54]

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by .^[42]

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap	Grid
1	P	10	Wayne Taylor Racing	Renger van der Zande	1:36.083	—	1
2	P	7	Acura Team Penske	Hélio Castroneves	1:36.090	+0.007	2
3	P	5	Mustang Sampling Racing	Filipe Albuquerque	1:36.194	+0.111	3
4	P	38	Performance Tech Motorsports	Patricio O'Ward	1:36.318	+0.235	4
5	P	90	Spirit of Daytona Racing	Tristan Vautier	1:36.472	+0.389	5
6	P	37	Jackie Chan DCR JOTA	Robin Frijns	1:36.492	+0.409	6
7	P	31	Whelen Engineering Racing	Felipe Nasr	1:36.508	+0.425	7
8	P	54	CORE Autosport	Colin Braun	1:36.567	+0.484	8
9	P	55	Mazda Team Joest	Jonathan Bomarito	1:36.633	+0.550	9
10	P	6	Acura Team Penske	Dane Cameron	1:36.931	+0.848	10
11	P	78	Jackie Chan DCR JOTA	Alex Brundle	1:36.982	+0.899	11
12	P	85	JDC-Miller Motorsports	Simon Trummer	1:37.005	+0.922	12
13	P	23	United Autosports	Fernando Alonso	1:37.008	+0.925	13
14	P	99	JDC-Miller Motorsports	Stephen Simpson	1:37.124	+1.041	14
15	P	32	United Autosports	Bruno Senna	1:38.186	+2.103	15
16	P	52	AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	Gustavo Yacamán	1:38.773	+2.690	16
17	P	20	BAR1 Motorsports	Alex Popow	1:41.778	+5.695	17
18	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Jan Magnussen	1:42.779	+6.696	21
19	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Joey Hand	1:42.798	+6.715	22
20	GTLM	912	Porsche GT Team	Laurens Vanthoor	1:42.927	+6.844	23
21	GTLM	911	Porsche GT Team	Patrick Pilet	1:43.062	+6.979	24
22	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Richard Westbrook	1:43.091	+7.008	25
23	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Oliver Gavin	1:43.453	+7.370	26
24	GTLM	62	Risi Competizione	Toni Vilander	1:43.601	+7.518	27
25	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Alexander Sims	1:43.948	+7.865	28
26	GTLM	24	BMW Team RLL	John Edwards	1:44.413	+8.330	29
27	GTD	51	Spirit of Race	Daniel Serra	1:46.049	+9.966	30
28	P	22	Tequila Patrón ESM	Nicolas Lapierre	1:46.129	+10.046	18
29	GTD	82	Risi Competizione	Miguel Molina	1:46.502	+10.419	31
30	GTD	11	GRT Grasser Racing Team	Mirko Bortolotti	1:46.658	+10.575	501
31	GTD	15	3GT Racing	Jack Hawksworth	1:46.714	+10.631	32
32	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Alessandro Balzan	1:47.055	+10.972	33
33	GTD	14	3GT Racing	Dominik Baumann	1:47.186	+11.103	34
34	GTD	86	Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	Álvaro Parente	1:47.251	+11.168	35
35	GTD	29	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	Sheldon van der Linde	1:47.273	+11.190	36
36	GTD	58	Wright Motorsports	Robert Renauer	1:47.291	+11.208	37
37	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Cameron Lawrence	1:47.348	+11.265	38
38	GTD	44	Magnus Racing	Andy Lally	1:47.442	+11.359	39
39	GTD	59	Manthey Racing	Sven Müller	1:47.587	+11.504	40
40	GTD	33	Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports	Ben Keating	1:47.796	+11.713	41
41	GTD	64	Scuderia Corsa	Sam Bird	1:47.839	+11.756	42
42	GTD	69	HART	Ryan Eversley	1:47.862	+11.779	43
43	GTD	48	Paul Miller Racing	Bryce Miller	1:48.181	+12.098	44
44	GTD	93	Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	Côme Ledogar	1:48.239	+12.156	45
45	GTD	75	SunEnergy1 Racing	Kenny Habul	1:48.326	+12.243	46
46	GTD	19	GRT Grasser Racing Team	Christoph Lenz	1:51.531	+15.448	47
–	P	77	Mazda Team Joest	Did Not Participate			192
–	P	2	Tequila Patrón ESM	Did Not Participate			202
–	GTD	73	Park Place Motorsports	Did Not Participate			48
–	GTD	71	P1 Motorsports	Did Not Participate			492

Notes:

• 
  ^1  – The No. 11 GRT Grasser Team Racing Lamborghini Huracán was sent to the rear of the GTD field for failing a post-qualifying stall test.^[44]
  


• 
  ^2  – The No. 2 Extreme Speed Motorsports, the No. 71 P1 Motorsports Mercedes-AMG, and the No. 77 Mazda entries were sent to the rear of their respective class fields because their teams had changed their respective starting drivers.^[54]
  

Race

Start

Weather conditions at the start of the race were dry but cloudy. The air temperature throughout was between 64 and 77 °F (18 and 25 °C) and the track temperature ranged from 62 to 80 °F (17 to 27 °C);^[55] conditions were expected to remain consistent throughout the race, but a 70% chance of rain was forecast for Sunday.^[33] Chip Ganassi Racing founder and owner Chip Ganassi waved the green flag at 14:40 Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00) to start the proceedings.^[33][56] Fifty cars were due to take the start, but Robert Renauer spun on cold tyres and heavily damaged the left-hand quarter of the No. 58 Wright Motorsports car when he hit the turn five inside wall during the first formation lap. He was able to recover the car back to the pit lane where extensive repairs were carried out for the next two hours and eight minutes.^{[57][58][59][60]} Van Der Zande led from the start with Castroneves close behind. Nasr moved into third by the third lap and overtook Castroneves around the outside for second at turn seven. He lost third to Albuquerque two corners later. The first round of green flag pit stops for fuel began on lap 17, with van der Zande stopping two laps later. He lost first to Albuquerque after all pit stops were carried out.^[59] Elsewhere, Hand took over the GTLM lead from Magnussen in the opening minutes. Westbrook was also an early mover but fell to third after a slow pit stop to rectify brake issues. Jeffrey Schmidt's No. 29 Land Motorsport car moved to the front of GTD by passing Serra and having a faster pit stop than Molina who overtook Serra.^[61]

Early in the second hour, problems during the second pit stop phase affected several cars. The right-front wheel on Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda detached and rested on the Armco barriers lining the circuit. Bomarito slowed to 45 mph (72 km/h) on his way to the pit lane, putting him three laps behind the overall leader; Tincknell relieved him at his pit box. Oliver Jarvis' sister No. 77 car was then transported into its garage for a downshifting problem that put him behind the GTLM leaders and five laps behind the overall pace setters.^[62][63][57] Santiago Creel relieved Molina in the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari, but a flash fire affected the car when fuel ignited at its pit stop after the nozzle was disconnected. The entry dropped 24 laps as it was tended to.^[62][57] Ricky Taylor in the No. 7 Penske car was delayed by its left-hand door coming loose due to a broken latch; he remained on the same lap as the overall leader.^[57] During this period, Vautier, Alonso and Barbosa all led outright.^[62][63] Extreme Speed Motorsports gained the most positions: the No. 22 car of Derani had gained fifteen places from starting 18th, while Olivier Pla's sister No. 22 entry overcame an earlier cut tire that necessitated an unscheduled pit stop to run in seventh.^[64]

Derani was gaining on Barbosa when the first full course caution period of the race was activated for 14 minutes. James French in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca had stopped on the oval banking at turn seven halfway through the third hour because of no fuel.^[57][65] Barbosa kept first from Derani at the restart. Two Jackie Chan DCR JOTA cars separated the pair allowing Barbosa to draw clear and re-establish his advantage upfront, which grew to seven seconds.^[66][67] Derani fell out of contention in the battle for the lead soon after his right-rear tire burst, shredding the right-rear quarter of his car and sending him to pit road for repairs. Matt McMurry in the No. 90 Spirit of Race car was demoted to third when Hunter-Reay's No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry, Simon Pagenaud's No. 6 Penske, and Middleton's No. 31 Whelen Engineering car got past him the lap after the restart. Middleton came into contact with Pagenaud at turn five; in spite of both remaining on the lead lap, Middleton earned a drive-through penalty. As night fell, James Calado's No. 62 Risi Competizione, and Nunez' No. 77 Mazda RT24-P, picked up punctures at the rear of their cars within 28 minutes of each other.^[65][66]

Night

Before the fourth hour's end, Jordan Taylor's right-rear tire burst on the banking entering turn twelve. Damage was minimal since he was near the pit lane and repairs took twenty-nine seconds.^[65][68] Light rain began falling just as the fifth hour began and several cars in all categories were caught out by the change of conditions.^[69] Soon after, the rain intensified enough for most of the field to make pit stops for rain tyres. Marcel Fässler stayed on the circuit but was ten seconds slower than teammate Magnussen and was overtaken by Bourdais and Scott Dixon's Fords. The rain later tapered off, but the disparity of drying of the banking and the infield sections was problematic for rain tyre equipped cars. The first major incident in GTLM came 4 hours and 42 minutes in when Bill Auberlen's No. 25 BMW M8's right-front tyre was cut 10 mm (1.0 cm) from debris on the banking leaving turn six. He stayed off the wall and returned to his garage to repair front-right bodywork damage. Pilet remained on dry tyres and took the GTLM lead but dropped to fourth by the end of hour six. In the meantime, Fittipaldi struggled on the wet track and lost the overall lead to Castroneves. It was then taken by Conway after making a pit stop two laps later than both cars.^[65][70][71]

Norris was the best-placed LMP2 car and was sometimes the fastest overall and gained positions through superior fuel economy before Hanson took over the No. 23 vehicle.^[72] Despite a front nose change at his pit stop, Castroneves retook the lead after Curran took over from Conway when the No. 5 car stopped. Castroneves was soon being gained on by Albuquerque who relieved Fittipaldi. The two drew level when Albuquerque used his car's extra torque to get a better exit out of the turn three hairpin. Albuquerque overtook Castroneves because the latter elected not to risk driving beside him entering the kink. Albuquerque opened up a five-second gap before handing the lead back to Castroneves ten minutes before the eighth hour ended on pit stop rotation.^[72] Don Yount lost control of the No. 96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6's rear at the Bus Stop chicane and hit the tyre wall heavily. No caution was needed.^[73] Soon after, Hanson's right-rear tyre blew turning into the Bus Stop chicane, significantly damaging his car's bodywork. Hanson required an engine cover and rear wing replacement and Alonso took over from him. Castroneves again lost the lead to Albuquerque when he overshot his pit box and was half a minute adrift into hour nine. Third-placed van der Zande picked up another right-rear puncture on the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing car at the Bus Stop chicane; the carcass delaminated and deranged its bodywork and radiator line, forcing it into the garage for repairs. It dropped ten laps to the overall leader.^[65][73]

McMurry brought the No. 90 Spirit of Racing car into his garage with a misfiring engine and later retired. Nick Tandy got past Antonio García's No. 3 Corvette but clipped the curb at the Bus Stop chicane too hard and speared into the tyre barrier after losing control of his vehicle's rear leaving the turn. He returned to the pit lane with heavy car damage. As it turned January 28, Nasr's right-rear tire failed but had minimal car damage and went to the pit lane for a replacement wheel.^[65][73] The lead of GTD went to Adam Christodoulou's No. 33 Riley Mercedes-AMG because IMSA deemed that Jeffrey Schmidt's dominant No. 29 Land Motorsport Audi R8 had exceeded the maximum rate of permitted fuel flow (a balance of performance transgression) at the car's pit stops. IMSA ordered the team to serve a five-minute stop-and-hold penalty.^[74] The race's second full course yellow was activated for 18 minutes when Roberto González was on his out-lap on cold tyres and went straight into the tyre barrier at the third corner.^[65][73][74] Mustang Sampling Racing changed the brake discs on the No. 5 car during the caution, allowing Ricky Taylor and Pagenaud into first and second overall.^[73][74]

In GTD, Katherine Legge took over the class lead in the No. 86 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX when the No. 33 Riley Mercedes-AMG served a stop-and-hold penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Legge lost it soon after to Perera's No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán and Brekers took second place in the class for GRT Grasser Racing Team. Meanwhile, the top four overall cars were separated by six seconds and three cars were contesting the battle for second place.^[73] Barbosa sidedrafted Pagenaud with fourth-placed Nasr slipstreaming both cars on the approach to the Bus Stop chicane. Nasr out-braked both vehicles and passed them for second overall. Graham Rahal was now in the No.7 Penske Acura but was overtaken by Barbosa and Nasr. Ten hours and 30 minutes in, Alonso drove No. 23 United Autosports car into the garage with a master brake cylinder failure and fell out of contention for a top ten finish. One second separated the trio of Barbosa, Nasr and Rahal with Pagenaud drawing slightly closer in fourth. Nasr lost second to Rahal in the eleventh hour. Pagenaud took the lead for a short time during the pit stop rotation for fuel. Rahal extended his advantage upfront as Barbosa and Nasr lost time on cold tyres, but Pagenaud gained first when Rahal spun and stalled at turn one.^[65][73][75]

Morning

Mike Conway (pictured in 2016) of Whelen Engineering Racing was called to pit road for cooling issues in the eighteenth hour.

Conway regained first place through the next pit stop cycle. Tung slid the No. 78 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA Oreca at the Bus Stop chicane and rear-ended the inside tire barrier. He made a pit stop for a replacement rear wing assembly and repairs to the car's front-left bodywork. The two Nissan Onroak DPis entered by Extreme Speed Motorsports driven by Ryan Dalziel and Derani retired by hour fourteen because of respective terminal gearbox and engine failures.^[65] Cameron led for three laps before his mechanics called him to pit road to inspect the No. 6 Penske car thoroughly for a suspected alternator problem that drained its battery. Cameron lost 25 laps to the leaders, and just three entries in the Prototype category were now on the lead lap.^[65][76] Curran led at the beginning of the 15th hour but lost it to teammate Albuquerque when his rear brake light failed to work. A rear wing replacement was mandated at his unscheduled pit stop as he fell off the lead lap.^[77] In the 16th hour's opening minutes, the third full course yellow flags were waved for 20 minutes. Jörg Bergmeister in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsport Porsche had lightly hit the tire wall alongside the circuit and continued to the pit lane. Several cars in GTD took the opportunity to change brake discs during the caution.^[65][78][79]

14 minutes after racing resumed, Castroneves and Nasr made contact, resulting in significant damage to the No. 7 Penske Acura's left-hand side intercooler, radiator and bodywork, necessitating its return to the garage. It returned 25 laps adrift of the leader and out of contention for the overall win.^[65][78] Van der Zande's No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac sustained another right-rear puncture, this time at high speed. Team owner Wayne Taylor retired the car for driver safety reasons, uncertain of the cause of the problem, and he wanted to stop using spare bodywork parts.^[65][80] Soon after, the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P driven by Bomarito fell out of the running order at the West Horseshoe due to an exhaust problem that led the car to catch fire.^[81] The fourth (and final) full course yellow was activated for 22 minutes when Legge was forced off the track entering turn three by Kyle Masson's No. 38 car ploughing through an advertising billboard and Styrofoam blocks, littering debris on the circuit. Legge narrowly avoided impacting Masson's side. Under caution, Fittipaldi brought the No. 5 vehicle onto pit road to rectify an overnight cooling issue by removing the engine cover and adding water. This allowed Conway back on the lead lap.^[65][82]

Conway stayed close by Fittipaldi as Braun got the No. 54 CORE Autosport car past the latter to regain one of its laps. Conway, however, could not get ahead of his teammate to regain first place overall. Midway through the 19th hour, Conway was called to pit road for a similar cooling issue that hindered the sister No. 5 car; he kept second because Paul di Resta's No. 32 United Autosports car had a clutch pressure problem that temporarily prevented him from leaving pit road. He lost three laps to Fittipaldi.^[65][83] The No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán took the lead in GTD after trading the position with the No. 33 Riley Mercedes-AMG for the past few hours. Meanwhile, teams were scheduling their final pit stops and preparing their fastest drivers to undertake their last stints. The leaders of two of the three categories kept within close distance of each other without risking too much.^[65] Nasr slowed because of overheating concerns and fell to third behind Loïc Duval in the No. 54 CORE Autosport car. Nasr retook second when Duval made a scheduled pit stop and opened up a healthy advantage over him before hour 22 was over.^[84]

Finish

Unhindered after relieving Fittipaldi in the final two hours, Albuquerque took the chequered flag for the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac in a record-breaking distance of 808 laps and 2,876.48 miles (4,629.25 km). This surpassed the previous record set by John Paul Jr., John Paul Sr. and Rolf Stommelen in a Porsche 935 at the 1982 race. It was Barbosa and Fittipaldi's third outright victory at Daytona and Albquqerue's first overall.^[85] Middleton's No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing car followed 1 minute and 10.544 seconds later in second, and Braun in the No. 54 CORE Autosport Oreca 07 was the highest-placed LMP2 vehicle in third.^[86][87] In GTLM, the No. 67 Ford GT of Briscoe, Dixon and Westbrook got ahead of the sister No. 66 Ford of Hand, Dirk Müller and Bourdais in its final pit stop. It crossed the start-finish line after 783 laps to clinch Chip Ganassi Racing's 200th motor racing victory, and the team's second consecutive win, by 11.180 seconds after leading all but nine laps.^[85] Dixon had his third victory at Daytona, Briscoe's was his second, and it was Hand's first.^[88] The No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R of Garcia, Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller completed the class podium.^[85][87] Bleekemolen's No. 33 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG closed to within a second of Bortolotti's No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán in the final half hour. Bleekemolen made a pit stop for fuel with 15 minutes left, however, allowing Bortolotti to claim victory in GTD and Lamborghini's maiden 24 hour race win. Parente got the No. 86 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX into second and Paul Miller Racing's No. 23 Lamborghini Huracán took third with Andrea Caldarelli driving its final stint.^[85][89]

Post-race

Continental Tire, one of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's two tire suppliers, suggested the increased competition in the Prototype category, teams double stinting their tires (the same sets brought by the company to Daytona for the past five years), and running them outside of their recommended air pressures and camber settings, were factors in several cars sustaining right-rear punctures during practice and the race.^[90][91] Warm track temperatures, the highest in five years, led teams to lower tire air pressures to stop them from over-inflating once they reached their optimum running temperatures.^[91] Furthermore, according to Continental Tire, they cautioned three teams over not receiving more sets of tires because they had not brought their limits in line with the company's recommendations. One team reported to Continental Tire that their tyre failures occurred after increasing their tyre pressures to the company's prescribed limits.^[92] Regardless, at the 12 Hours of Sebring, Continental Tire debuted a more durable slick tyre which allowed for more aggressive setups and enhanced the likelihood that incidents such as the multiple punctures seen at Daytona would not reoccur in the future.^[91][92]

The No. 29 Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS was impounded at technical inspection for three hours after the race. The team's refuelling equipment was deemed to comply with IMSA regulations, but a discrepancy in the fuel data provided to the series and the team was discovered.^[93] Starting at Sebring, IMSA established minimum refuelling times for all classes, overriding all refuelling restrictor starting sizes issued to teams. This was listed in the category-wide balance of performance tables to counter the controversy.^[94] Jarvis expressed his surprise that the race had just four caution periods compared to 21 in 2017, "We always talk about Daytona as [being about] staying out of trouble, staying on the lead lap – and if you do have a problem, don't worry, because you get laps back. But it just hasn't happened. I've never seen a Daytona 24 with such big gaps [between the leading cars]. It's a shame really because in the prototype class there hasn't been much of a race on, it's just survival to the finish."^[95] Duval said the low number of cautions lessened his team's chances of the overall victory, because the day before it began they anticipated more than twenty, "We tried to put some pressure on the guys [ahead] but it was a bit too late, they were a bit too far ahead."^[95]

Since it was the first race of the season, Albuqueruee, Barbosa and Fittipaldi led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 35 points each. Conway, Curran, Middleton and Nasr were in second with 32 points. Bennett, Braun, Dumas and Duval were third with 30 points. Westbrook, Dixon and Briscoe took the GTLM points standings lead with their teammates Bourdais, Hand and Müller placing second. Garcia, Magnussen and Rockenfeller rounded out the top three. Bortolotti, Perera, Rik Breukers and Inechen led the GTD Drivers' Championship, followed by the second-placed Allmendinger, Parente, Legge and Hindman. Caldarelli, Sellers, Miller and Snow were third.^[96] Mustang Sampling Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and GRT Grasser Racing Team became the leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships. Cadillac, Ford and Lamborghini assumed the lead of their respective Manufacturers' Championships with eleven races left in the season.^[96]

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and by .^[87]

Pos	Class	No.	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tire	Laps	Time/Retired
					Engine
1	P	5	Mustang Sampling Racing	Filipe Albuquerque João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi	Cadillac DPi-V.R	C	808	24:01:32.128
					Cadillac 5.5 L V8
2	P	31	Whelen Engineering Racing	Mike Conway Eric Curran Stuart Middleton Felipe Nasr	Cadillac DPi-V.R	C	808	+1:10.544
					Cadillac 5.5 L V8
3	P	54	CORE Autosport	Jon Bennett Colin Braun Romain Dumas Loïc Duval	Oreca 07	C	808	+1:31.982
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
4	P	32	United Autosports	Will Owen Paul di Resta Hugo de Sadeleer Bruno Senna	Ligier JS P217	C	804	+4 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
5	P	78	Jackie Chan DCR JOTA	Alex Brundle António Félix da Costa Ferdinand Habsburg Ho-Pin Tung	Oreca 07	C	804	+4 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
6	P	85	JDC-Miller Motorsports	Robert Alon Austin Cindric Devlin DeFrancesco Simon Trummer	Oreca 07	C	798	+10 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
7	P	99	JDC-Miller Motorsports	Misha Goikhberg Gustavo Menezes Chris Miller Stephen Simpson	Oreca 07	C	798	+10 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
8	P	38	Performance Tech Motorsports	James French Kyle Masson Joel Miller Patricio O'Ward	Oreca 07	C	796	+12 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
9	P	7	Acura Team Penske	Hélio Castroneves Graham Rahal Ricky Taylor	Acura ARX-05	C	793	+15 Laps
					Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
10	P	6	Acura Team Penske	Dane Cameron Juan Pablo Montoya Simon Pagenaud	Acura ARX-05	C	793	+15 Laps
					Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
11	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ryan Briscoe Scott Dixon Richard Westbrook	Ford GT	M	783	+25 Laps
					Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
12	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Sébastien Bourdais Joey Hand Dirk Müller	Ford GT	M	783	+25 Laps
					Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
13	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Antonio García Jan Magnussen Mike Rockenfeller	Chevrolet Corvette C7.R	M	781	+27 Laps
					Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
14	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Marcel Fässler Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner	Chevrolet Corvette C7.R	M	780	+28 Laps
					Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
15	P	37	Jackie Chan DCR JOTA	Robin Frijns Daniel Juncadella Felix Rosenqvist Lance Stroll	Oreca 07	C	777	+31 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
16	GTLM	62	Risi Competizione	James Calado Alessandro Pier Guidi Davide Rigon Toni Vilander	Ferrari 488 GTE	M	774	+34 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
17	GTLM	912	Porsche GT Team	Earl Bamber Gianmaria Bruni Laurens Vanthoor	Porsche 911 RSR	M	774	+34 Laps
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
18	GTLM	24	BMW Team RLL	Nick Catsburg John Edwards Augusto Farfus Jesse Krohn	BMW M8 GTE	M	773	+35 Laps
					BMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8
19	P	52	AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	Nicholas Boulle Roberto González Sebastián Saavedra Gustavo Yacamán	Ligier JS P217	C	771	+37 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
20	GTLM	911	Porsche GT Team	Frédéric Makowiecki Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy	Porsche 911 RSR	M	753	+55 Laps
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
21	GTD	11	GRT Grasser Racing Team	Mirko Bortolotti Rik Breukers Rolf Ineichen Franck Perera	Lamborghini Huracán GT3	C	752	+56 Laps
					Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
22	GTD	86	Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	A. J. Allmendinger Trent Hindman Katherine Legge Álvaro Parente	Acura NSX GT3	C	751	+57 Laps
					Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
23	GTD	23	Paul Miller Racing	Andrea Caldarelli Bryce Miller Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	Lamborghini Huracán GT3	C	751	+57 Laps
					Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
24	GTD	33	Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports	Jeroen Bleekemolen Adam Christodoulou Ben Keating Luca Stolz	Mercedes-AMG GT3	C	751	+57 Laps
					Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
25	GTD	64	Scuderia Corsa	Townsend Bell Sam Bird Frankie Montecalvo Bill Sweedler	Ferrari 488 GT3	C	751	+57 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
26	GTD	44	Magnus Racing	Andrew Davis Andy Lally John Potter Markus Winkelhock	Audi R8 LMS	C	750	+58 Laps
					Audi 5.2 L V10
27	GTD	29	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	Sheldon van der Linde Kelvin van der Linde Christopher Mies Jeffrey Schmidt	Audi R8 LMS	C	749	+59 Laps
					Audi 5.2 L V10
28	GTD	75	SunEnergy1 Racing	Mikaël Grenier Kenny Habul Thomas Jäger Maro Engel	Mercedes-AMG GT3	C	745	+63 Laps
					Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
29	GTD	15	3GT Racing	Dominik Farnbacher Jack Hawksworth David Heinemeier Hansson Scott Pruett	Lexus RC F GT3	C	744	+64 Laps
					Lexus 5.0 L V8
30	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Alessandro Balzan Gunnar Jeannette Cooper MacNeil Jeff Segal	Ferrari 488 GT3	C	744	+64 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
31	GTD	93	Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	Lawson Aschenbach Mario Farnbacher Côme Ledogar Justin Marks	Acura NSX GT3	C	741	+67 Laps
					Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
32	GTD	71	P1 Motorsports	Robby Foley Kenton Koch JC Perez Loris Spinelli	Mercedes-AMG GT3	C	741	+67 Laps
					Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
33	GTD	19	GRT Grasser Racing Team	Christian Engelhart Christoph Lenz Louis Machiels Ezequiel Pérez Companc Max van Splunteren	Lamborghini Huracán GT3	C	739	+69 Laps
					Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
34	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Jens Klingmann Mark Kvamme Cameron Lawrence Martin Tomczyk Don Yount	BMW M6 GT3	C	733	+75 Laps
					BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
35	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Bill Auberlen Connor De Phillippi Philipp Eng Alexander Sims	BMW M8 GTE	M	731	+77 Laps
					BMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8
36	GTD	14	3GT Racing	Dominik Baumann Philipp Frommenwiler Bruno Junqueira Kyle Marcelli	Lexus RC F GT3	C	719	+89 Laps
					Lexus 5.0 L V8
37	GTD	69	HART	Ryan Eversley John Falb Chad Gilsinger Sean Rayhall	Acura NSX GT3	C	719	+89 Laps
					Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
38	P	23	United Autosports	Fernando Alonso Phil Hanson Lando Norris	Ligier JS P217	C	718	+90 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
39	GTD	82	Risi Competizione	Santiago Creel Martin Fuentes Matt Griffin Miguel Molina Ricardo Pérez de Lara	Ferrari 488 GT3	C	715	+93 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
40	GTD	73	Park Place Motorsports	Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey Tim Pappas Norbert Siedler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	C	675	+133 Laps
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
41	GTD	58	Wright Motorsports	Mathieu Jaminet Patrick Long Christina Nielsen Robert Renauer	Porsche 911 GT3 R	C	666	+142 Laps
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
42	P	20	BAR1 Motorsports[N 1]	Marc Drumwright Brendan Gaughan Eric Lux Alex Popow	Riley Mk. 30	C	642	+166 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
43	GTD	59	Manthey Racing	Matteo Cairoli Sven Müller Harald Proczyk Steve Smith Randy Walls	Porsche 911 GT3 R	C	637	Did Not Finish
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
44	GTD	51	Spirit of Race	Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda Daniel Serra	Ferrari 488 GT3	C	571	+237 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
45	P	10	Wayne Taylor Racing	Ryan Hunter-Reay Jordan Taylor Renger van der Zande	Cadillac DPi-V.R	C	555	Did Not Finish
					Cadillac 5.5 L V8
46	P	55	Mazda Team Joest	Jonathan Bomarito Spencer Pigot Harry Tincknell	Mazda RT24-P	C	541	Did Not Finish
					Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4
47	P	77	Mazda Team Joest	Oliver Jarvis Tristan Nunez René Rast	Mazda RT24-P	C	530	Did Not Finish
					Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4
48	P	22	Tequila Patrón ESM	Pipo Derani Nicolas Lapierre Johannes van Overbeek	Nissan Onroak DPi	C	438	Did Not Finish
					Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
49	P	2	Tequila Patrón ESM	Ryan Dalziel Olivier Pla Scott Sharp	Nissan Onroak DPi	C	338	Did Not Finish
					Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
50	P	90	Spirit of Daytona Racing	Eddie Cheever III Matt McMurry Tristan Vautier	Cadillac DPi-V.R	C	291	Did Not Finish
					Cadillac 5.5 L V8

Notes

Standings after the race

Prototype Drivers' Championship standings[96] Pos. Rider Points 1 Filipe Albuquerque João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi 35 2 Mike Conway Eric Curran Stuart Middleton Felipe Nasr 32 (–3) 3 Jon Bennett Colin Braun Romain Dumas Loic Duval 30 (–5) 4 Paul di Resta Will Owen Hugo de Sadeleer Bruno Senna 28 (–7) 5 Alex Brundle António Félix da Costa Ferdinand Habsburg Ho-Pin Tung 26 (–9)

GTLM Drivers' Championship standings[96] Pos. Constructor Points 1 Ryan Briscoe Scott Dixon Richard Westbrook 35 2 Sébastien Bourdais Joey Hand Dirk Müller 32 (–3) 3 Antonio García Jan Magnussen Mike Rockenfeller 30 (–5) 4 Marcel Fässler Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner 28 (–7) 5 James Calado Alessandro Pier Guidi Davide Rigon Toni Vilander 26 (–9)

GTD Drivers' Championship standings[96] Pos. Team Points 1 Mirko Bortolotti Rik Breukers Rolf Ineichen Franck Perera 35 2 A. J. Allmendinger Trent Hindman Katherine Legge Álvaro Parente 32 (–3) 3 Andrea Caldarelli Bryce Miller Bryan Sellers Madison Snow 30 (–5) 4 Jeroen Bleekemolen Adam Christodoulou Ben Keating Luca Stolz 28 (–7) 5 Townsend Bell Sam Bird Frankie Montecalvo Bill Sweedler 26 (–9)

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Teams' Championship standings[96] Pos. Team Points 1 No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing 35 2 No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing 32 (–3) 3 No. 54 CORE Autosport 30 (–5) 4 No. 32 United Autosports 28 (–7) 5 No. 78 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA 26 (–9)

GTLM Teams' Championship standings[96] Pos. Team Points 1 No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 35 2 No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 32 (–3) 3 No. 3 Corvette Racing 30 (–5) 4 No. 4 Corvette Racing 28 (–7) 5 No. 62 Risi Competizione 26 (–9)

GTD Teams' Championship standings[96] Pos. Team Points 1 No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team 35 2 No. 86 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian 32 (–3) 3 No. 48 Paul Miller Racing 30 (–5) 4 No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports 28 (–7) 5 No. 64 Scuderia Corsa 26 (–9)

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Manufacturers' Championship standings[96] Pos. Team Points 1 Cadillac 35 2 Acura 32 (–3) 3 Mazda 30 (–5) 4 Nissan 28 (–7) 5 BMW 26 (–9)

GTLM Manufacturers' Championship standings[96] Pos. Team Points 1 Ford 35 2 Chevrolet 32 (–3) 3 Ferrari 30 (–5) 4 Porsche 28 (–7) 5 BMW 26 (–9)

GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings[96] Pos. Team Points 1 Lamborghini 35 2 Acura 32 (–3) 3 Mercedes-AMG 30 (–5) 4 Ferrari 28 (–7) 5 Porsche 26 (–9)

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References