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Photo: Anonymous Honda’s new Prelude GT500 contender set the pace in the first group test of the new SUPER GT season at Sepang as Nakajima Racing ended up with the top time. The Dunlop-shod No. 64 Nakajima Racing Honda HRC Prelude-GT, one of seven GT500 cars present at the Malaysian track, set the best time of 1:49.211 on the third day of running on Sunday while Riki Okusa was the wheel. Nakajima, which had both of its regular drivers Okusa and Igor Fraga taking turns at the wheel, topped four of the eight three-hour sessions held across the four-day test that commenced last Thursday, with a rest day on Saturday. The test marked Fraga’s first mileage in a GT500 car, as well as the first time the Prelude has been tested on Dunlop tires, with all running until now with the new-for-2026 machine having taken place using Bridgestone rubber. Okusa’s best effort was exactly three tenths shy of the best time set in last year’s Sepang test, a 1:48.911 by Tadasuke Makino in a Honda Civic ...

Changing conditions, a global tire debut and a three-peat made the Rolex 24 one to remember. The No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 with drivers Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich scored the first victory with the Michelin Pilot Sport Endurance tire. “It’s like amazing, joining the 7 crew for the entire year and starting off the year with the perfect result, I have to say the hard work paid off,” said Andlauer. “We’ve been working very hard for weeks and weeks together, and everyone delivered an amazing job.” Drivers across the GTP class gave positive reviews to the new Michelin Pilot Sport Endurance tire. “The soft tire is much, much better compared to the previous version, but it was tough out there,” said Andlauer. “Track conditions evolved so much during the race that we always had to adapt and get it right with the tire pressure and everything. “It was the same challenge for everyone, and luckily, we understood Michelin.” Second-place finisher Jack Aitken said: “We h...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA BMW outfit Paul Miller Racing claimed GTD Pro class victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona after coming out on top of a tense strategic battle against 75 Express. The No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO shared by Connor De Phillippi, Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Neil Verhagen triumphed by a margin of just 2.223 seconds over the No. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Kenny Habul, Will Power, Chaz Mostert and Maro Engel. Heading into the final 90 minutes of a race punctuated by a caution period in the night-time hours lasting more than six hours due to fog, Engel appeared to be in a strong position to capture victory having passed several cars on-track. However, at the last round of pit stops with one hour and 20 minutes to go, Paul Miller turned around Harper 13 seconds faster than 75 Express managed with Engel, giving Harper a small cushion he was able to manage to the finish. As well having to conserve fuel, Harper faced the additional challenge of not having a working radio fo...

Photo: Jurgen Tap/Porsche Kevin Estre led Porsche Penske Motorsport teammate Julien Andlauer with three hours to go in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Estre in the No. 6 Porsche 963 held an eight-tenth advantage of Andlauer’s No. 7 entry in second. The No. 25 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Marco Wittmann ran third, some ten seconds behind. Andlauer’s co-driver Nasr put the No. 7 Porsche back into the lead, after Wittmann, who was off-sequence, pitted with three hours and 45 minutes to go. It re-instated a Porsche Penske 1-2 at the front of the field. The No. 24 BMW of Sheldon van der Linde, with Earl Bamber slipping back to fifth in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, which bouced back from a stop-and-hold plus 60-second penalty for co-driver Connor Zilisch running the red light at pit exit during the six-plus hour long full-course caution period. LMP2 was paced by the No. 04 CrowdStrike by APR Oreca 07 Gibson of Malthe Jakobsen, who recovered from an earlier drive-th...

Photo: Juergen Tap/Porsche Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 7 car led the Rolex 24 at Daytona under caution at the halfway point, as deteriorating visibility due to fog put the race into a holding pattern. Felipe Nasr circulated at the head of the field behind the safety car aboard the No. 7 Porsche 963 after taking over from Laurin Heinrich early in Hour 12, followed by Earl Bamber in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R. The second quarter of the race saw two prolonged green flag periods in which the two Penske Porsches were the class of the GTP field and largely ran in close formation and both enjoyed spells at the head of the order. Before handing over to Nasr under caution, the seventh of the race, Heinrich had raced to a 20-second lead over the sister No. 6 Porsche driven by Matt Campbell. A seemingly-struggling Campbell was passed by Bamber before handing over to Kevin Estre at the most recent round of stops. BMW’s No. 24 car ran fourth in the hands of Sh...

Photo: Juergen Tap/Porsche Laurin Heinrich maintained Porsche Penske Motorsport’s lead in the Rolex 24 at Daytona at nightfall, having completed six hours of racing. The No. 7 Porsche 963 held a lead of 1.957 seconds over the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 of Nick Yelloly, with both cars haven overtaken the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche. Tijmen van der Helm held the race lead about the privateer 963 having elected not to pit under the most recent caution, which was triggered when the No. 81 DragonSpeed Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R hit the Turn 3 wall after contact from the No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson. Van der Helm then proceeded to hold Heinrich at bay for multiple laps before eventually losing the lead, running third before pitting. BMW moved up to fourth and fifth with its pair of M Hybrid V8s driven by Rene Rast and Raffaele Marciello, followed by the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R in the hands of Will Stevens. Connor Zilisch sat in seventh ...