Porsche’s Vanthoor Leads Interrupted Rolex 24 Practice Session – Sportscar365

Emerson Raymont

Published: January 24, 2026 2:36 AM ET

Porsche’s Vanthoor Leads Interrupted Rolex 24 Practice Session – Sportscar365

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Laurens Vanthoor led a disrupted final practice session for the upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona. The session, which lasted for one hour and 15 minutes, included three red flags and concluded with less than five minutes remaining.

Final Practice Session Highlights

Vanthoor achieved a remarkable lap time of 1:36.475 behind the wheel of the No. 6 Porsche 963. This performance dethroned Ricky Taylor, who was driving the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, by just 0.066 seconds.

Top Performers

1st: Laurens Vanthoor (No. 6 Porsche 963) – 1:36.475
2nd: Ricky Taylor (No. 10 Cadillac V-Series.R) – 1:36.541
3rd: Dries Vanthoor (No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8) – Time not specified
4th: Julien Andlauer (No. 7 Porsche 963) – Time not specified
5th: Louis Deletraz (WTR Cadillac) – Time not specified
10th: Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 – Time not specified

Class-Specific Leaders

In the LMP2 class, Charles Milesi dominated with a time of 1:39.909 in the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson, surpassing Enzo Fittipaldi in the No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports entry.

For the GTD Pro category, Maro Engel clocked the fastest time at 1:46.251 in the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. He edged out Max Hesse from Paul Miller Racing, who had to start at the back of his class post-qualifying.

IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin led the GTD classification in the DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Session Interruptions

The practice session experienced three interruptions, affecting the drivers significantly:

The first red flag was caused by Henrik Hedman, who stopped his No. 19 DragonSpeed Corvette at the Le Mans chicane.
Jon Field also encountered issues with minor contact at the chicane while piloting his No. 37 Intersport Racing Oreca LMP2.
The final red flag resulted from a stoppage of the Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo at Speedway Turn 2.

Despite these challenges, all cars returned to action before the practice session concluded.

Looking Ahead

The 64th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona will officially begin on Saturday at 1:40 p.m. Expect an exciting race as top teams and drivers showcase their skills.