The 61st Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona International Speedway starts at 13:40 ET on Saturday, January 28. Sixty-one cars will take the green flag in America’s biggest sportscar race of the year, which kicks off the IMSA season.

New for 2023 is the GTP class – prototype sportscars from Acura, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche – that feature electrical hybrid systems, as IMSA embraces a new era. 

Subsidiary classes are for LMP2 and LMP3 prototypes, featuring an array of professional and amateur drivers. The GTD ranks are for production-based cars, and these are divided into two separate classes – one for all-pro driver lineups and one for pro-am.

Click here for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona entry list

Qualifying was held on Sunday, and here is what happened.

How can I watch the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona?

From Saturday afternoon, live TV coverage is available on NBC’s Peacock streaming service for the full 24-hour cycle, while network NBC will provide 10 minutes of build-up and then the first 50 minutes of the race, and then the final 1hr40mins and 20mins of post-race.

In the meantime, USA Network will cover 13.5 hours of the race.

  • Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, will broadcast all 24 hours in the USA
  • IMSA TV, available at imsa.com, will broadcast all 24 hours outside of the USA
  • Saturday, January 28, 1:30-2:30pm – NBC
  • Saturday, 2:30-8:00pm – USA network
  • Saturday, 10:00-11:59pm – USA network
  • Sunday, January 29, 6:00am-12:00pm – USA network
  • Sunday, 12:00-2:00pm – NBC
Read Also:

  • Tandy didn’t do “too much damage” in Porsche Rolex 24 qualifying shunt
  • BMW bullish for Rolex 24 despite subduded qualifying
  • Mercedes drivers elated by GTD pole sweep for Rolex 24 at Daytona

What type of track is Daytona?

The Daytona International Speedway road course is a 3.56-mile layout that incorporates all three turns of the banked tri-oval but inserts a fiddly infield section and a ‘Bus Stop’ chicane to create a total of 12 turns.

#10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz, Brendon Hartley, #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-LMDh Cadillac V- LMDh: Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, Jack Aitken

#10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz, Brendon Hartley, #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-LMDh Cadillac V- LMDh: Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, Jack Aitken

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

What’s the average fastest lap speed?

Driving a Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R last year, the 2021 IndyCar champion Alex Palou set a new race lap record around the course of 1min33.724sec, an average speed of 136.74mph.

IMSA at Daytona schedule (all times in ET)

Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona

Wednesday, Jan. 25

1.45-2.30pm

Mazda MX-5 Cup practice 1

2.45-3.45pm

Michelin Pilot Challenge practice 1

Thursday, Jan. 26

 

9.00-9.30am

Mazda MX-5 Cup practice 2

9.45-10.45am

Michelin Pilot Challenge practice 2

11.05am-12.35pm

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice 1

12.55-1.10pm

Mazda MX-5 Cup qualifying

2.25-3.00pm

Michelin Pilot Challenge qualifying

3.20-5.05pm

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice 2

5.30-6.15pm

Mazda MX-5 Cup RACE 1

7.15-9.00pm

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice 3

Friday, Jan. 27

 

9.25-9.55am

Michelin Pilot Challenge practice 3

10.15-11.00am

Mazda MX-5 Cup RACE 2

11.20pm-12.20pm

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice 4

1.45-5.45pm

Michelin Pilot BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona RACE

6.25-6.45pm

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice 4 (GTP class only)

Saturday, Jan. 28

 

1.40pm

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona RACE starts

Sunday, Jan. 29

 

1.40pm

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona RACE finishes

Qualifying times for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona:

Read More

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *