The 24 Hours of Daytona proved to be a challenging outing for the Prancing Horse, as the best result for Ferrari in the opening round of the IMSA Sports Car Championship was a sixth-place finish by the #81 296 GT3 from DragonSpeed in the GTD Pro category. In the GTD class, the #50 Ferrari of AF Corse managed to secure seventh place.
This starkly contrasted the Maranello marque’s historic victory in the GTD Pro class at Daytona in 2024. The 63rd edition of the Florida endurance classic fell short of pre-race expectations, with Ferrari teams and drivers pushed to their limits under challenging conditions. The unfavorable Balance of Performance (BoP) regulations forced them to extract every ounce of performance from their cars to stay competitive with the frontrunners.
GTD Pro
During the course of the race, the Dragonspeed Ferrari, driven by the three official drivers Davide Rigon, Miguel Molina, and Thomas Neubauer, together with Albert Costa, was never in a position to aspire to a high-ranking position. They were also slowed down by an off-track on the return with cold tires after a stop just before the tenth hour when the French driver was at the wheel, which forced the car to return to the pits to replace the door. Later on Sunday morning, Molina was touched by another car – later sanctioned with a Drive Through – losing 20 precious seconds. In the final, with the cars regrouped after the 15th full-course yellow of the race, the Spanish driver recovered one position, allowing the team to achieve an excellent final result. At the end, the gap to the class leaders, number 65 Ford, was 28 seconds.
GTD
The protagonist of the challenge for the top ten right to the end of the 24-hour contest was the number 50 Ferrari of AF Corse entrusted to factory driver Arthur Leclerc (making his debut in a 24 Hour) along with Custodio Toledo, Riccardo Agostini, and Conrad Laursen. The quartet took seventh place thanks to an excellent performance by both the AF Corse team and the drivers. Agostini was behind the wheel of the 296 GT3 to the finish line passing under the checkered flag with a gap of 8 seconds from class winner number 13 Chevrolet.
Less lucky were the other Maranello Marque’s cars. Triarsi Competizione‘s 296 GT3, the 021, shared by Ferrari factory driver James Calado with Sheena Monk, Stevan McAleer, Mike Skeen, suffered front right suspension damage following a collision caused by the #32 team (sanctioned with a Drive Through), forcing the team to send Calado to the garage with an hour to go until the checkered flag. The crew finished in 11th position.
A couple of technical glitches between night and morning, and a Drive Through, slowed the pace of the number 34 Conquest Racing’s Ferrari, driven by official Ferrari driver Daniel Serra, along with Manny Franco, Cédric Sbirrazzuoli and Giacomo Altoè, who finished twelfths.
The second car fielded by Triarsi Competizione, the 023 entrusted to factory driver Alessio Rovera along with Onofrio Triarsi, Charles Scardina, and Eddie Cheever, was delayed by a long stop in the morning and retired after 569 laps due to technical problems.
The Ferrari number 70 of Inception Racing, which at the stroke of 12 hours was leading with the line-up formed by Frederik Schandorff, Brendan Iribe, David Fumanelli, and Ollie Millroy, was forced to retire after 392 laps due to damage to the support of the right front suspension.
The 296 GT3 number 21 of AF Corse shared by official drivers Alessandro Pier Guidi and Lilou Wadoux, with Kei Cozzolino and Simon Mann, long time in the Top-5, were forced to retire after 555 laps due to the consequences of an accident that occurred five hours from the end when the Italian driver was at the wheel. Finally, the Ferrari number 47 of Cetilar Racing, driven by official drivers Antonio Fuoco, Roberto and Nicola Lacorte, and Lorenzo Patrese, retired during the night due to a technical problem.
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Above content © 2025 Ferrari SpA, reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee
