Aitken puts Whelen Cadillac on pole for Rolex 24

Jack Aitken vaulted Whelen Cadillac to pole for the 64th Running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The 30-year-old put down a blistering lap of 1 minute, 33.939 seconds in the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R with three laps remaining to claim the top spot. Renger van der Zande, piloting the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 for Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian, was left finishing second by 0.102s.

The No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing entry of Luis Deletraz was third, 0.130s behind.

Grand Touring Prototype (GTP)

The halfway point of the session saw the No. 25 BMW M Team WRT entry - back on track after suffering a hybrid issue in opening practice - of Marco Wittman spin in Turn 1. Shortly after, van der Zande vaulted to the top spot with his 1 minute, 34.067 second lap.

Despite Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Felipe Nasr applying heavy pressure, notably with the fastest time in the first sector, it wasn’t enough to put the No. 7 Porsche 963. At the time the attention was on Nasr, Aitken pulled off the best overall lap with three minutes remaining.

Ultimately, Nasr ended up fourth, just ahead of Tom Blomqvist in Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60 Acura ARX-06.

As the session came to a close, the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 slowed halfway through the lap, with van der Zande weaving and suspected to be out of fuel.

Acura Meyer Shank Racing quickest in first Rolex 24 practice

Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)

Jeremy Clarke muscled his way to a class pole after an intense session for LMP2.

Driving the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07, he pulled off a quick lap of 1 minute, 39.952 seconds. AO Racing’s PJ Hyett had the No. 99 entry just 0.008s off the top mark to secure second.

Daniel Goldburg, in the No. 22 entry for United Autosport USA, was third by 0.144s. Clarke’s quick lap came with a close call moments later, with windy conditions potentially leading to a significant slide in Turn 1. It ended up being a similar situation for Hyett, who overshot Turn 1 and locked up the rear tires moments later.

The session closed with Naveen Rao spinning the No. 18 entry in the International Horseshoe. He’s set to start seventh in the class following a showing that was 0.882 off the top mark.

Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) Pro

Alexander Sims orchestrated a clean run to claim pole in the GTD Pro class, pushing to a best lap of 1 minute, 45.106 seconds in the No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports.

Paul Miller Racing’s Neil Verhagen ended up second in class, falling behind the top spot in class by 0.170s in the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Dean MacDonald took third in the No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO for RLL Team McLaren. AO Racing were uncharacteristically not a challenger in the session, with Nick Tandy’s lap 1.136s behind in the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), which put them last in the class. 

Congratulations to the 2026 Rolex 24 At DAYTONA MOTUL Pole Award Winners! @Rolex24Hours | @MotulUSApic.twitter.com/19DSNVQg8N

— IMSA (@IMSA) January 22, 2026

Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)

Zacharie Robichon earned the GTD class pole after propelling Heart of Racing’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO to a flying lap of 1 minute, 45.113 seconds. The result marks the Canadian’s second class pole in the Rolex 24.

“It feels incredible,” said Robichon, who has one previous GTD class win at Daytona (2022). “I’ve been in this position before and I’ve been lucky enough to win this race. Those weren’t in the same year, but the goal here is to make these match.”

The performance by Robichon narrowly edged out Winward Racing’s Philip Ellis, who fell short just 0.074s in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3. Turner Motorsport’s Robby Roley ended up third, 0.152s behind, in the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. 

That’s the first pole position for this generation of Vantage GT3 at Daytona, and the first time since 2015 that an Aston Martin has taken the GTD Class pole for the Rolex 24.

We’ll take that. #AstonMartin#Vantage#Rolex24#IMSApic.twitter.com/dSgLmGohqW

— Aston Martin Racing (@AMR_Official) January 22, 2026

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