With 15 cars from 10 different manufacturers, GTD Pro is set to be fiercely contested at the 2026 24 Hours of Daytona. With three models (Ferrari 296, Ford Mustang, and Porsche 911) having received "Evo" updates, the Balance of Performance officials faced an uphill challenge in balancing the field.
Furthermore, in the GT3 classes, a certain amount of sandbagging is business as usual. No manufacturer wants to attract attention by showing too much pace during the pre-test. That’s why it is no surprise that three GTD cars posted a faster outright lap time than the best GTD Pro entry.
Looking at the six sessions of the "Roar before the 24" (only Winward Racing participated in the seventh session due to its Bronze-rated driver), it is safe to say that the #75 75 Express Mercedes – driven by Kenny Habul, Maro Engel, Will Power Chaz Mostert – fully disclosed what it is capable of.
Solar entrepreneur Habul’s team, which includes IndyCar superstar Power, secured four session best times.
Power caused a red flag in the first session with a minor spin, but otherwise remained error-free. 75 Express Racing also leads the cumulative standings.
The other two session bests went to the #59 RLL-McLaren (session 1) and the #4 Pratt-Miller-Corvette (session 4).
Cumulative GTD Pro Overall Results (Fastest Lap)
1. 75 Express Mercedes #75 (Habul/Engel/Power/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 best time of 1:47.530 – a remarkable feat for a Bronze-rated driver. However, the personal bests of Power (1:47.612) and Mostert (1:47.625) would have also been enough for the top spot. Engel did not participate in the Roar as he was competing in the 24 Hours of Dubai.
Behind them follows a diverse field, with only Porsche and BMW lagging slightly behind.
Long-runs: Advantage AMG and Ford
Long-run consistency is far more critical. For our analysis, we considered all laps under 1:53 minutes to calculate the average. Every GTD Pro car completed more than 100 laps in this range, providing a solid database:
1. 75 Express 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)
75 Express Racing maintains its lead, while Winward drops significantly. This is due to the driver line-up, which includes Bronze-rated Scott Noble and Silver driver Jason Hart, alongside two factory pros.
Ford appears to be the second-strongest force, slightly detached from the rest of the field.
The gap for Porsche and BMW is striking. In BMW’s case, it is particularly surprising as the M4 GT3 Evo is in its second year and fought for the podium last year with a less favourable BoP.
The RLL McLaren also loses ground. However, we must not forget that Nikita Johnson is Silver-rated, and both Juri Vips and Max Esterson are new to GT3 racing. Dean MacDonald serves as the benchmark for the trio.
Top 20% Laps: Lamborghini gains ground
To analyse "sprint qualities," we filtered the top 20% of all laps under 1:53 minutes. This reveals some interesting shifts:
1. 75 Express Mercedes #75 – 1:47.890 min
2. Multimatic Ford #65 +0.275
3. Pfaff Lamborghini #9 +0.283
4. GetSpeed Mercedes #69 +0.283
5. Pratt Miller Corvette #3 +0.319
6. Winward Mercedes #48 +0.319
7. Pratt Miller Corvette #4 +0.391
8. Vasser Sullivan Lexus #14 +0.394
9. Risi Ferrari #62 +0.434
10. Multimatic Ford #64 +0.437
11. RLL McLaren #59 +0.480
12. Triarsi Ferrari #033 +0.507
13. Manthey Porsche #911 +0.556
14. AO Porsche #77 +0.820
15. Paul Miller BMW #1 +0.829
75 Express Racing dominates this category as well. Its lead is even larger here, thanks to an extraordinary number of laps in the 1:47s. While the "Solar Express" clocked 20 laps under 1:48 minutes, no other manufacturer came close – the second-placed Ford #65 managed only five.
As expected, the other two Mercedes-AMG GT3s climb the rankings in this statistic, reflecting the influence of their factory drivers. From second place downwards, the field is separated by just over half a second, with Lamborghini making up some ground. Once again, Porsche and BMW find themselves at the bottom of the list.
Bottom Line
Mercedes-AMG is showing extreme strength. However, since the three drivers for the #75 are not factory-contracted, they likely showed their full potential. Race week will reveal who has the most reserves left – or if anyone receives a last-minute BoP adjustment.
