With 15 vehicles from 10 totally different producers, GTD Professional is about to be fiercely contested on the 2026 24 Hours of Daytona. With three fashions (Ferrari 296, Ford Mustang, and Porsche 911) having obtained “Evo” updates, the Stability of Efficiency officers confronted an uphill problem in balancing the sphere.
Moreover, within the GT3 lessons, a certain quantity of sandbagging is enterprise as regular. No producer needs to draw consideration by displaying an excessive amount of tempo through the pre-test. That’s why it’s no shock that three GTD vehicles posted a quicker outright lap time than the very best GTD Professional entry.
Trying on the six classes of the “Roar earlier than the 24” (solely Winward Racing participated within the seventh session because of its Bronze-rated driver), it’s protected to say that the #75 75 Categorical Mercedes – pushed by Kenny Habul, Maro Engel, Will Energy Chaz Mostert – absolutely disclosed what it’s able to.
Photo voltaic entrepreneur Habul’s crew, which incorporates IndyCar celebrity Energy, secured 4 session greatest occasions.
Energy precipitated a purple flag within the first session with a minor spin, however in any other case remained error-free. 75 Categorical Racing additionally leads the cumulative standings.
#75 75 Categorical Mercedes-AMG GT3: Kenny Habul, Maro Engel, Will Energy
Photograph by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen through Getty Photos
The opposite two session bests went to the #59 RLL-McLaren (session 1) and the #4 Pratt-Miller-Corvette (session 4).
Cumulative GTD Professional General Outcomes (Quickest Lap)
1. 75 Categorical Mercedes #75 (Habul/Engel/Energy/Mostert) – 1:47.530 (session 6)2. Winward Mercedes #48 (Noble/Hart/Martin/Stolz) +0.115 (session 3)3. Pfaff Lamborghini #9 (Caldarelli/Mitchell/Bortolotti/Hinchcliffe) +0.189 (session 3)4. Multimatic Ford #65 (Mies/Vervisch/Priaulx) +0.230 (session 6)5. RLL McLaren #59 (Esterson/N. Johnson/Vips/MacDonald) +0.236 (session 1)6. Pratt Miller Corvette #3 (Garcia/Sims/Kirchhofer) +0.245 (session 6)7. Pratt Miller Corvette #4 (Milner/Catsburg/Varrone) +0.280 (session 4)8. GetSpeed Mercedes #69 (Bartone/Gotz/Gounon/Schiller) +0.321 (session 6)9. Multimatic Ford #64 (Barker/Olsen/Rockenfeller) +0.333 (session 3)10. Vasser Sullivan Lexus #14 (Hawksworth/Barnicoat/Kirkwood) +0.399 (session 6)11. Risi Ferrari #62 (Serra/Rigon/Pier Guidi) +0.424 (session 4)12. Manthey Porsche #911 (Preining/Bachler/Feller) +0.558 (session 4)13. Triarsi Ferrari #033 (Calado/Agostini/Rovera/Molina) +0.618 (session 4)14. Paul Miller BMW #1 (Verhagen/De Phillippi/Hesse/Harper) +0.879 (session 1)15. AO Porsche #77 (Tandy/King/Picariello) +0.892 (session 3)
Habul set the very best time of 1:47.530 – a outstanding feat for a Bronze-rated driver. Nevertheless, the private bests of Energy (1:47.612) and Mostert (1:47.625) would have additionally been sufficient for the highest spot. Engel didn’t take part within the Roar as he was competing within the 24 Hours of Dubai.
Behind them follows a various subject, with solely Porsche and BMW lagging barely behind.
Lengthy-runs: Benefit AMG and Ford
Lengthy-run consistency is way extra essential. For our evaluation, we thought of all laps underneath 1:53 minutes to calculate the common. Each GTD Professional automobile accomplished greater than 100 laps on this vary, offering a strong database:
1. 75 Categorical Mercedes #75 – 1:48.803 (130 laps)2. Multimatic Ford #65 +0.213 (135 laps)3. Multimatic Ford #64 +0.226 (124 laps)4. Pratt Miller Corvette #3 +0.327 (121 laps)5. Risi Ferrari #62 +0.355 (108 laps)6. Vasser Sullivan Lexus #14 +0.382 (111 laps)7. Pratt Miller Corvette #4 +0.386 (148 laps)8. Pfaff Lamborghini #9 +0.408 (138 laps)9. Triarsi Ferrari #033 +0.509 (143 laps)10. GetSpeed Mercedes #69 +0.579 (137 laps)11. Manthey Porsche #911 +0.636 (143 laps)12. AO Porsche #77 +0.795 (121 laps)13. RLL McLaren #59 +0.843 (145 laps)14. Paul Miller BMW #1 +1.120 (111 laps)15. Winward Mercedes #48 +1.167 (137 laps)
#57 WINWARD RACING Mercedes-AMG GT3: Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje, Lucas Auer
Photograph by: Brandon Badraoui
75 Categorical Racing maintains its lead, whereas Winward drops considerably. That is because of the driver line-up, which incorporates Bronze-rated Scott Noble and Silver driver Jason Hart, alongside two manufacturing facility execs.
Ford seems to be the second-strongest drive, barely indifferent from the remainder of the sphere.
The hole for Porsche and BMW is hanging. In BMW’s case, it’s notably stunning because the M4 GT3 Evo is in its second 12 months and fought for the rostrum final 12 months with a much less beneficial BoP.
The RLL McLaren additionally loses floor. Nevertheless, we should not neglect that Nikita Johnson is Silver-rated, and each Juri Vips and Max Esterson are new to GT3 racing. Dean MacDonald serves because the benchmark for the trio.
Prime 20% Laps: Lamborghini positive aspects floor
To analyse “dash qualities,” we filtered the highest 20% of all laps underneath 1:53 minutes. This reveals some fascinating shifts:
1. 75 Categorical Mercedes #75 – 1:47.890 min2. Multimatic Ford #65 +0.2753. Pfaff Lamborghini #9 +0.2834. GetSpeed Mercedes #69 +0.2835. Pratt Miller Corvette #3 +0.3196. Winward Mercedes #48 +0.3197. Pratt Miller Corvette #4 +0.3918. Vasser Sullivan Lexus #14 +0.3949. Risi Ferrari #62 +0.43410. Multimatic Ford #64 +0.43711. RLL McLaren #59 +0.48012. Triarsi Ferrari #033 +0.50713. Manthey Porsche #911 +0.55614. AO Porsche #77 +0.82015. Paul Miller BMW #1 +0.829
#65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3: Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch, Sebastian Priaulx
Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Lumen through Getty Photos
75 Categorical Racing dominates this class as nicely. Its lead is even bigger right here, because of a unprecedented variety of laps within the 1:47s. Whereas the “Photo voltaic Categorical” clocked 20 laps underneath 1:48 minutes, no different producer got here shut – the second-placed Ford #65 managed solely 5.
As anticipated, the opposite two Mercedes-AMG GT3s climb the rankings on this statistic, reflecting the affect of their manufacturing facility drivers. From second place downwards, the sphere is separated by simply over half a second, with Lamborghini making up some floor. As soon as once more, Porsche and BMW discover themselves on the backside of the record.
Backside Line
Mercedes-AMG is displaying excessive energy. Nevertheless, because the three drivers for the #75 usually are not factory-contracted, they possible confirmed their full potential. Race week will reveal who has essentially the most reserves left – or if anybody receives a last-minute BoP adjustment.
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