Ferrari logo
Logo Content
Logo Content

    Ferrari challenging at mid race in Daytona

    Daytona 26 January 2025

    After a relatively calm beginning to this year’s 24 Hours at Daytona, repeated caution periods have interrupted the pace of the leaders in the subsequent hours. Created largely by several significant incidents involving prototypes, the GTD categories have largely run trouble free.

    GTD Pro. The no. 81 Ferrari of Dragonspeed ran steadily for much of the opening half of the race, managing to keep the pace of the top cars without quite ever breaking into the podium positions. That strong running ran into some bumps however after the race crossed the 10-hour mark with Thomas Neubauer behind the wheel. The cold temperatures have caught out many drivers, particularly on their outlaps and Thomas was no exception, striking the tires at the first hairpin corner in the infield. Luckily, he was able to continue with the only penalty seeming to be the loss of time. Albert Costa, however, was not so lucky. A fortuitous yellow allowed the team to pit and maintain its status on the lead lap, but the car was subsequently called for a pass under yellow which required a drive through penalty to be served. The team currently runs in 10th in the category. 

    GTD. Inception Racing is leading the category at the half way mark with Frank Schandorff behind the wheel. The team has consistently run towards the front of the field. The nearest challenger at the moment is the no. 021 car of Triarsi Competizione with factory driver James Calado currently at the wheel. The team has emphasized Sheena Monk and Calado in this opening stanza of the race to strong affect and currently sit in 5th. They lead the no. 21 296 GT3 of AF Corse with fellow factory driver Lilou Wadoux at the wheel in 6th and the no. 50 AF Corse car in 7th with Riccardo Agostini at the wheel currently. That car placed a heavy emphasis on their gentleman driver, Custodio Toledo, earlier in the running, even falling a lap down, but have used the yellow flag periods to regain that lap and now run at the sharp end of the large GTD field. Further back, the no. 023 of Triarsi Competizione currently sits in 11th with Eddie Cheever behind the wheel. That team has also focused on getting Charlie Scardina his drive time early in the race, saving factory driver Alessio Rovera for later in the 24 hour contest. 

    The remaining two Ferraris of Conquest Racing and Cetilar Racing meanwhile both ran into mechanical difficulties – just before the twelfth hour – that have put them multiple laps behind the leaders.