Two of the three IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge winners to kick off the 2025 season dominated at Daytona International Speedway. The third, however, captured a surprising victory on the last lap of the 45-minute race.
Valentino Catalano won overall with an authoritative drive in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3) class after a race-long battle with teammate Markus Pommer.
Adam Adelson, in the first of his three races at Daytona this month – he’ll also compete in the Rolex 24 At Daytona with Wright Motorsports – started things off strongly with a flag-to-flag victory in the debut of the new Grand Touring Daytona X (GTDX) class, GT3-specification cars now entered in VP Racing Challenge.
Kiko Porto, meanwhile, dominated the weekend pace-wise in Grand Sport X (GSX) but only captured the race win on the last lap when his closest rival, Steven Clemons, slowed unexpectedly from the lead.
Catalano emerges on top from Gebhardt battle
Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports made its podium debut to cap off the 2024 season at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with drivers Catalano, in the No. 30 Duqueine D08, and Pommer, in the No. 31 Duqueine D08. They backed up that solid debut outing last year in Daytona this weekend.
From pole, Catalano led a majority of the race – only briefly losing the lead to his teammate on an exchange for one of the 26 laps – and resumed out front to secure the win by 1.071s over Pommer.
Pommer, however, finished second on the road but third in the race results after he was given a 10s penalty for a false start at the green flag for changing columns.
“I thought it was pretty smooth, I would say,” Catalano said. “I knew it was a long race, so I didn’t push that much. I created a bit of a gap and could hold it quite good. At some point, I heard that Markus got a penalty and then I was just managing my tires and I didn’t take any risks. I was just driving smooth and slow to get it home. and it worked out, so I’m really happy about that.”
That promoted Brady Golan to second in his No. 80 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P320. Golan, too, had a penalty – but his was pre-race after missing the pre-grid time which forced him to start from the rear of the P3 class field. Undeterred, the teenager gained four positions on the first lap to an eventual third place, which became second, 5.503s in arrears, once Pommer’s penalty was applied.
Fourth on the road and the top-rated Bronze driver in class was Mirco Schultis, in the No. 70 Mishumotors Ligier JS P320. IMSA introduced a Bronze Cup podium this race to award trophies to all of the top-three Bronze-rated finishers in each of the three classes.
Adelson leads flag-to-flag in GTDX class debut
The debut of the GTDX class within VP Racing Challenge was largely uneventful. After starting from pole, Adelson led all 26 laps in the No. 24 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) with a 30.236s margin of victory.
“I knew where we were going to get our tire temperature up way more quickly than the LMP3 cars on the start, so for me it was about making sure if I was faster than any of them to get by,” Adelson said. “Thankfully I successfully did so and that really helped me build a gap.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” he added about winning the GTDX class debut. “Believe it or not, even just the addition of the torque sensors on the WeatherTech car, makes it so you have to drive it quite differently. Regardless, any track time is good track time. It’s the first time GTDX is running with VP Challenge, so it’s an honor to be here and win that inaugural race.”
Jake Galstad/IMSA
While Adelson enjoyed a simple drive, the battle behind him was intense among three Ferrari 296 GT3 cars and a single BMW M4 GT3.
Like Golan in P3, AJ Muss in GTDX had a mission to complete from a pre-race penalty. The driver of the No. 66 Af Corse Ferrari qualified fastest but had all his times disallowed for exiting the car during qualifying, which dropped him to the rear of the eight-car GTDX grid.
From there, the snowboarder-turned-driver was on a charge and rose to second ahead of teammate Matias Perez Companc in the No. 50 Af Corse Ferrari.
Those two ended just ahead of the top-rated Bronze driver in GTDX, Dave Musial (the father of the father-son Musial pairing) in the No. 99 Conquest Racing Ferrari. His margin over fellow series debutante Samantha Tan, in the No. 38 ST Racing BMW, was just 0.241s.
Porto secures surprise GSX win on final lap
A race-long battle between a pair of Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 cars, Porto in the No. 8 RAFA Racing entry and Steven Clemons in the No. 76 BSI Racing entry, ended when Clemons’ car slowed entering NASCAR Turns 3 and 4 of the Daytona International Speedway oval, and Porto flew past.
“We started strong at the beginning but then started losing so much pace,” Porto explained. “The other Toyota was faster; he was going to pass me anyway and I was just trying to survive.
“Then when I saw it, they were just slowing down in the last corner and I was like, I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if they had a mechanical or if they risk too much in the field, I don’t know. But I was like, okay, I’m not lifting anymore and things gotta happen.”
Michael Levitt/IMSA
Gregory Liefooghe was second in the No. 43 Stephen Cameron Racing Ford Mustang GT4, 11.015s behind Porto but only 0.059s ahead of Patrick Wilmot, in the No. 12 Swish Motorsports BMW M4 GT4. Wilmot concluded a late deal to drive with Swish owner Michael Dayton’s team for Daytona after a small fundraising effort and said he hopes to continue into the second event of the year at Circuit of The Americas.
Bronze Cup also had a late change in this class. Ian Porter (No. 68 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO1) was out front for most before stopping off course. Rob Walker (No. 53 Kingpin Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2) emerged as top Bronze in GSX, fifth in class.
The second 45-minute race of the weekend is at 1:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, streaming live on Peacock in the U.S. and on YouTube.com/IMSAOfficial outside the U.S.
RESULTS
