Corvette Racing Aims for Fifth Rolex 24 Win from GTD PRO Pole

A Corvette Z06 GT3.R earned a class victory at the 2025 Rolex 24 At Daytona. But it wasn’t fielded by the factory supported Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports team.

On Thursday, Alexander Sims took the first step toward winning this year’s twice-around-the clock classic at Daytona International Speedway by driving Pratt Miller’s familiar yellow No. 3 Corvette to the Motul Pole Award for the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class.

Sims turned in the pole-winning lap with a little under four minutes remaining in the 15-minute GTD PRO qualifying session. It was a businesslike performance that demonstrated the flagship Corvette team’s level of preparation for the opening round of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

His time of 1 minute, 45.106 seconds (121.934 miles per hour) was well off the GTD PRO class record of 1:44.382 set by Seb Priaulx in 2024 as the 3.56-mile Daytona road course was graced with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s. Warm conditions are expected to continue into the weekend. 

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports has earned four GT class wins at Daytona (2001, ’15, ’16, and ’21), including an overall triumph 25 years ago in 2001. Last year, a Corvette prepared by the team now known as 13 Autosport (formerly AWA) took the GTD class honors.

Five Corvettes are entered in this year’s Rolex 24, with the two Pratt Miller cars in the GTD PRO class joined by single 13 Autosport, DXDT Racing and DragonSpeed entries in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). The five cars collectively completed 3,738 miles of testing in IMSA’s annual ‘Roar Before the 24’ at Daytona from January 16-18, with plenty of attention paid to the characteristics of Michelin’s new-for-2026 tires.

Sims and his co-driver Antonio Garcia are the defending GTD PRO class champions for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, which has won 15 manufacturer’s championships in American sports car competition since 2001. 

“The Michelins seem to be working pretty well at the moment,” Sims said after notching his third pole position in IMSA competition, and first since Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2024. He also won one of the Motul Pole Award 100 qualifying races at Daytona in 2021, which set the field. “There are small nuances between this year’s and last year’s tire. We’ve had cold conditions in the test and now warmer conditions today, and they’re behaving themselves nicely. It’s feeling good out there. Inevitably, you’ve got to adapt to the situation and the grip you have available.

“It’s just wonderful to do a low-fuel run here at Daytona on new tires,” he added. “The car just comes alive compared to the state that you drive in during practice where you’re focusing on race prep. The car is working well, and hopefully we can carry that into the race.”

Dean MacDonald placed the No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO third on the GTD PRO grid in a promising start for RLL Team McLaren in the first race for the team/manufacturer affiliation, and will advance to second on the grid.

The No. 1 car which had unofficially qualified second was found to have camber in excess of the permitted limit. That car's qualifying lap times are invalidated and the car is moved to the back of the category.

“Everything has been going well, and Dean is very fast in the car,” said Max Esterson, who along with Nikita Johnson and Juri Vips rounds out the No. 59 car’s lineup.

GTD: Robichon Tops Field for Aston Martin

Aston Martin introduced series of updates for the Vantage in 2025. With a year of development under the car’s wheels, it was the fastest GTD class qualifier for the 2026 Rolex 24 as Zacharie Robichon seized the Motul Pole Award in the Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with a lap timed at 1 minute, 45.113 seconds (121.926 miles per hour). It’s the first Aston Martin pole at Daytona since 2015. 

Robichon set the benchmark just past the halfway point of the 15-minute GTD qualifying period and watched the warming conditions prevent any of the other 21 entries from challenging his time. It was the sixth time the 33-year-old Canadian has earned a Motul Pole Award in IMSA competition and the second at Daytona (2020 with Pfaff Motorsports). He was also part of Wright Motorsports’ GTD class race-winning effort in 2022.

The top ten qualifiers were covered by 0.884 seconds and included six manufacturers (Aston Martin, Mercedes-AMG, BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Porsche). 

“It feels really tight and the pole could have gone to any number of cars,” Robichon said. “I think we had really good timing and had a gap with plenty of open track. As is often the case here at Daytona, that’s pretty situational – getting a good clean lap.

“Ultimately, it’s a great place to start a 24-hour race,” he added. “But as we know, not necessarily the deciding factor. I’ve gotten the pole and won here before, but never in the same year. So, I’m looking to make those endings match.”

Philip Ellis, the 2025 GTD class champion with Russell Ward, qualified second in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 that they will share with Indy Dontje and Lucas Auer at 1:45.187 (121.840 mph). Robby Foley (co-drivers Patrick Gallagher, Jens Klingmann, and Francis Selldorff) did a nice job to recover from a punctured tire early in the session to post a late lap good enough for third place in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO (1:45.265/121.750 mph), while Charlie Eastwood rounded out a strong day for Corvette by running fourth in DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Z06 GT3.R he shares with Salih Yoluc, Mason Filippi and IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin.

Results are HERE