IMSA test at Daytona: First look at 2026 LMDh cars

With the official pre-season test at Daytona, the IMSA SportsCar Championship closed out 2025 and effectively opened the 2026 campaign. During running at Daytona International Speedway, the four LMDh manufacturers – Porsche, BMW, Cadillac and Acura – presented updates to their GTP machinery.

Cadillac’s changes were the most striking: the V-Series.R now features a completely redesigned rear wing element, which is mounted significantly lower. A new splitter without diveplanes has also been introduced, along with a new Brembo braking system.

Following an electrical update at the start of 2025, Cadillac has now used Evo Jokers number two and three. Each manufacturer is allowed five Jokers until the end of 2027, with two additional tokens available for the extended homologation cycle through 2029 as well as one styling-specific joker.

A particular spotlight was on young NASCAR sensation Connor Zilisch, who dramatically missed out on the Xfinity title and therefore lacked sufficient national licence points to participate in the WEC rookie test in Bahrain.

He drove the Action Express Cadillac #31 (Frederik Vesti/Jack Aitken/Earl Bamber/Zilisch) and is under consideration as the team’s fourth driver for Daytona.

The BMW M Hybrid V8 appeared in its previously-revealed bodywork configuration, including smaller kidney grilles and redesigned internal channels. Roughly fifty percent of the bodywork is new.

The revisions aim primarily to improve drivability. It remains unclear how many Evo Jokers were used for the upgrade; one token had already been spent on a brake update during the previous winter.

#7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Felipe Nasr, Josef Newgarden, Matt Campbell, Julien Andlauer, Scott McLaughlin

Porsche also rolled out new aerodynamics, although the changes featured only on the two factory-run Penske entries.

The privateer JDC-Miller Porsche remained in the previous specification but will be brought up to the new level before the official pre-event test, the Roar before the 24, as required by the regulations.

Unlike Cadillac and BMW, Porsche’s changes are less obvious at first glance. A new front splitter and a revised diffuser are the key components, accompanied by suspension updates.

With this, Porsche has invested Joker number three and four, leaving one token remaining until the end of 2027.

Acura introduced updated aerodynamics on the ARX-06 as well, but the changes are even more subtle than Porsche’s. New diveplanes and a lightly modified rear end are the main visual differences.

A.J. Allmendinger, who returning to Daytona 24 Hours as the fourth driver for the first time since 2021, completed his first laps in an LMDh car.

Most of these aero updates stem from the fact that IMSA and the WEC are now sharing the same Windshear wind tunnel in the United States for homologation work.

The Sauber wind tunnel previously used for the WEC has since been taken over by the Audi Formula 1 program.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH enters its second season as the only GTP car without Evo Joker changes. It was also the only car to encounter problems during the test, as Ross Gunn triggered a red flag on the out-lap due to an electrical issue.

Acura tops the timesheets in the first session

#93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly

Lap times were recorded as well, though they traditionally carry little performance relevance at this test. The combined results were as follows:

GTP

MSR-Acura #93 (Yelloly/van der Zande/Palou) – 1:35.725 (Session 1) JDC-Miller-Porsche #85 (Aron/van der Helm/Campbell/Pino) – 1:36.015 (Session 4) Penske-Porsche #6 (Andlauer/McLaughlin/Campbell/Nasr/Newgarden) – 1:36.143 (Session 2) MSR-Acura #60 (Blomqvist/Braun/Dixon/Allmendinger) – 1:36.231 (Session 3) Penske-Porsche #7 (Andlauer/McLaughlin/Campbell/Nasr/Newgarden) – 1:36.395 (Session 4) WRT-BMW #24 (Frijns/Rast/Magnussen/D. Vanthoor/Eng) – 1:36.399 (Session 4) WRT-BMW #25 (Wittmann/Rast/Magnussen/D. Vanthoor/Eng) – 1:36.459 (Session 4) AXR-Cadillac #31 (Vesti/Aitken/Bamber/Zilisch) – 1:36.540 (Session 2) WTR-Cadillac #10 (R. Taylor/Albuquerque/Stevens) – 1:36.595 (Session 2) WTR-Cadillac #40 (J. Taylor/Deletraz/Herta) – 1:36.619 (Session 2) THOR-Aston Martin #23 (De Angelis/Gunn) – 1:37.152 (Session 3)

LMP2

TDS-Oreca #11 (Lütke/Beche/Heinemeier Hansson/Milesi) – 1:39.176 (Session 2) Pratt-Miller-Oreca #73 (P. Fittipaldi/Cumming/Espirito Santo/E. Fittipaldi) – 1:39.177 (Session 4) APR-Oreca #04 (Kurtz/Quinn/Sowery/Jakobsen) – 1:39.188 (Session 2) Inter Europol-Oreca #43 (Clarke/Dillmann/Garg/Siegel) – 1:39.224 (Session 1) PR1-Mathiasen-BHA-Oreca #52 (Goikhberg/Keating/Thompson/Vautier) – 1:39.795 (Session 4) AO-Oreca #99 (Hyett/Cameron/Edgar/Rasmussen) – 1:39.911 (Session 3) United Autosports-Oreca #2 (Fayer/McElrea/Jensen) – 1:39.960 (Session 1) Tower-Oreca #8 (Farano/Bourdais/Alvarez/Foster) – 1:40.045 (Session 4) United Autosports-Oreca #22 (Goldburg/di Resta/Lindh/Saucy) – 1:40.210 (Session 2) Intersport-Oreca #37 (Field/Jarvis/Lucas) – 1:40.242 (Session 4)

GTP and LMP2 ran sessions 1 to 5 (Friday and Saturday), with the fifth session held after dark.

Lamborghini Temerario GT3 makes debut

#9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini: Andrea Caldarelli, Marco Mapelli

GT cars joined the action in the third session on Saturday morning and had Sunday (sessions 6 and 7) all for themselves.

Much attention was focused on the brand-new Lamborghini Temerario GT3, run by Pfaff Motorsports. Pfaff plans to introduce the Temerario at Sebring; for the 24 Hours of Daytona, the team will field the proven Huracan one last time.

This marked the Temerario’s first appearance on American soil, following development work in Europe, including an endurance test at Le Castellet. It was also the first time the car ran on the Michelin tyres used in IMSA.

The French manufacturer brought a new generation for 2026 as well. In a curious moment, the AF Corse Ferrari #21 (Mann/Mosca) appeared illegally on 2025-spec tyres, earning a 30-minute penalty during which the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo was not permitted to run.

Like Ferrari, both Porsche and Ford introduced updates to their GT3 cars. Across all three brands, the goal is to widen the operating window and improve drivability for amateur drivers.

Ford also aims to increase front-end downforce, which is visible through two large flaps on each side on the nose section.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing appeared for the first time with a newly-acquired McLaren 720S GT3 in GTD Pro, following the loss of its BMW LMDh program.

Also new was a second Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Winward Racing, set to race at Daytona and partly operated by mechanics from the DTM.

IndyCar star Will Power returned with 75 Express Racing after previously competing for the team in the Indianapolis 8 Hours. He set competitive times.

Only eight GTD cars participated in the test. The GT results were as follows:

GTD Pro

Winward-Mercedes #48 (Noble/Hart/Martin/Stolz) – 1:47.152 (Session 6) 75-Express-Mercedes #75 (Habul/Grenier/Power) – 1:47.187 (Session 7) RLL-McLaren #59 (MacDonald/Vips/Esterson) – 1:47.684 (Session 6) Manthey-Porsche #911 (Preining/Pera/Hardwick) – 1:47.700 (Session 7) Vasser-Sullivan-Lexus #14 (Hawksworth/Barnicoat/Kirkwood) – 1:47.999 (Session 7) Multimatic-Ford #65 (Mies/Vervisch/Priaulx) – 1:48.092 (Session 3) Pfaff-Lamborghini #9 (Mapelli/Caldarelli/Perera) – 1:48.102 (Session 6) Paul Miller-BMW #1 (Harper/Hesse/Verhagen/de Phillippi) – 1:48.161 (Session 4) Multimatic-Ford #64 (Barker/Olsen/Rockenfeller) – 1:48.218 (Session 7)

GTD

Winward-Mercedes #57 (Ellis/Ward/Dontje/Auer) – 1:47.156 (Session 5) Magnus-Aston Martin #44 (Potter/Pumpelly/Thiim) – 1:47.537 (Session 3) RS1-Porsche #28 (Zitza/Heylen) – 1:47.677 (Session 3) Wright-Porsche #120 (Adelson/Skeer/Sargent/Llott) – 1:47.873 (Session 7) Myers-Riley-Ford #16 (Monk/Fraga/Altzman/Grosjean) – 1:47.956 (Session 3) Vasser-Sullivan-Lexus #12 (Telitz/Pedersen/Montecalvo/Masson) – 1:47.958 (Session 3) AF-Corse-Ferrari #21 (Mann/Mosca) – 1:48.146 (Session 6) WTR-Lamborghini #45 (Formal/Hindman/Doyle) – 1:48.290 (Session 6)

Each one of the seven sessions featured at least one interruption. The first red flag was triggered by the aforementioned Valkyrie issue.

The second session saw two stoppages caused by LMP2 entries: Misha Goikhberg crashed at Turn 5, while Jon Field spun off. Field, now 70 years old, returns to IMSA after a 14-year hiatus. Both cars made it back to the pits under their own power.

In the third session, Spencer Pumpelly stopped in the Magnus Racing Aston Martin with an alternator problem. In the fourth session, Dane Cameron spun after what appeared to be a loose wheel on the AO-run Oreca.

The night session was interrupted twice to remove debris. The sixth session was also stopped once for the same reason. The final red flag of the test was caused in session seven by a tyre failure on the RS1 Porsche.

The 64th edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona begins with the official Roar before the 24 test from 16-18 January 16–18, while the race weekend runs from 21-25 January.