Meyer Shank Acura secures consecutive victory at 2023 Daytona 24

The Grand Touring Prototype era continued seamlessly as Acura, driven by Tom Blomqvist for Meyer Shank Racing, captured its second consecutive win at the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona, with Blomqvist starting and finishing the race in an impressive manner.

The team of Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Helio Castroneves, and Simon Pagenaud have won the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona for the #60 Meyer Shank Acura, marking the team’s second consecutive victory in the United States’ premier endurance race.

Tom Blomqvist expertly navigated the final portion of the race, maintaining a lead over Acura competitor Filipe Albuquerque and several Cadillac teams for over an hour.

Despite a strong comeback effort, Albuquerque and his teammates in the #10 Wayne Taylor Acura, including Ricky Taylor, Brendon Hartley, and Louis Deletraz, were unable to surpass Meyer Shank and ultimately placed second in the race, despite being two laps behind halfway through the event.

RETWEET to congratulate @MeyerShankRac!

Overall winners of the @Rolex24Hours at @DAYTONA! pic.twitter.com/J2RunlvxP2— Motorsports on NBC (@MotorsportsNBC) January 29, 2023

Chip Ganassi Racing’s factory Cadillacs, the #01 and #02, finished in third and fourth place respectively. Renger van der Zande drove the #01 to a third-place finish, while Earl Bamber placed fourth in the #02. Both teams, which included Sebastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon for the #01 and Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook for the #02, performed consistently throughout the race, but were unable to match the speed of the top-performing Acuras.

CONGRATS TO @MeyerShankRac, the Overall Winner of the 61st Anniversary of the #Rolex24!

Presented by @FLHSMV pic.twitter.com/erc3HYzhjR— Rolex24Hours (@Rolex24Hours) January 29, 2023

The #31 Action Express Cadillac, driven by Alexander Sims and his teammates Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken, placed fifth in the race, finishing 12 laps behind the leaders. Despite having similar performance to the other two Cadillacs, the team faced delays due to suspension problems which required repairs in the garage.

Alexander Sims and his teammates, Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken, driving the #31 Action Express Cadillac, placed fifth in the race, 12 laps behind the winner. Although they had similar speed to the other two Cadillacs, they were delayed by suspension issues that required repairs in the garage.

The #7 Porsche, driven by Matt Campbell, finished 14th overall and 7th in its class. The team faced multiple pit issues during the race and the other Porsche from the team was unofficially classified 42nd.

The #25 BMW team, consisting of drivers Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly, Sheldon van der Linde and Colton Herta, placed ninth in GTP class. The team faced an early delay of over two hours due to issues related to the car’s MGU, and ultimately finished 48th, 131 laps behind the leaders.

The LMP2 class was won by the #55 Proton Competition Oreca, driven by James Allen, who narrowly defeated the #04 Crowdstrike APR Oreca, driven by Ben Hanley, with a margin of only 0.016 seconds. Both teams, which included co-drivers Fred Poordad, Francesco Pizzi, and Gianmaria Bruni for the #55 and George Kurtz, Matt McMurry, and Esteban Guitterz for the #04, battled fiercely throughout the race. Allen ultimately emerged victorious by passing Hanley on the tri-oval during the final lap.

UNREAL!

A last-lap pass to WIN the @Rolex24Hours at @DAYTONA right at the finish line in LMP2! pic.twitter.com/Lk47HP0Hbn— Motorsports on NBC (@MotorsportsNBC) January 29, 2023

The #88 AF Corse Oreca, driven by Nicklas Nielsen and co-drivers Francois Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere, and Julien Canal, placed third in the LMP2 class, coming in just over 5 seconds behind the first-place finishers James Allen and Ben Hanley in the #55 Proton Competition Oreca and the #04 Crowdstrike APR Oreca who crossed the finish line only a fraction of a second apart.

The #17 AWA Duqueine team of Wayne Boyd, Nico Varrone, Thomas Merrill, and Anthony Mantella took first place in the LMP3 class with a lead of 11 laps over the second-place team, the #33 Sean Creech Ligier, consisting of Joao Barbosa, Lance Willsey, Nico Pino, and Nolan Siegel. In third place was the team of John DeAngelis, Christopher Allen, Connor Bloum and Cameron Shields from the #38 Performance Tech Ligier, four laps behind the Sean Creech Ligier.

The #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 team, consisting of Marco Sorensen, Roman De Angelis, Ian James, and Darren Turner, not only won the GTD category, but also the overall GT category with a lead of just over five seconds over the nearest competitor in their class, the #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, driven by Nicki Thiim, John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly, and Andy Lally. The third place in GTD went to the team of the #70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 with Brendon Iribe, Frederik Schandorff, Ollie Millroy, and Marvin Kirchoffer, who were 16 seconds behind.

The #79 WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG GT3 team, consisting of Cooper MacNeil, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Maro Engel, emerged victorious in the GTD Pro category, winning by 3.9 seconds over the #3 Corvette C8.R team of Jordan Taylor, Tommy Milner, and Antonio Garcia. Third place in the GTD Pro category was secured by the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus team of Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, and Mike Conway, who finished 10 seconds behind the second-placed Corvette.

Meyer Shank Acura secures consecutive victory at 2023 Daytona 24 Meyer Shank Acura secures consecutive victory at 2023 Daytona 24

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