| Kobayashi Leads Final Practice; Women in Motorsports Summit Details Confirmed and More January 24, 2025By Holly Cain and Tony DiZinnoIMSA Wire Service |
| Practice 3 Results DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The final 60-minute practice session for Saturday’s 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona was perhaps more eventful than anticipated for some. Three notable cars briefly stopped on track – the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06, the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 and No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The Acura pulled off course exiting Turn 3, the Porsche had nose damage on the Daytona International Speedway banking and the Corvette stopped on the backstraight, and only the Corvette stoppage caused a red flag. Kamui Kobayashi was the fastest overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class driver in the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R at 1 minute, 36.380 seconds (132.973 mph). Other class leaders were Toby Sowery in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Shane van Gisbergen in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and Anthony McIntosh in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). Sowery shares the No. 04 CrowdStrike by APR ORECA LMP2 07, van Gisbergen is part of the combined No. 91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3 and McIntosh is part of the debuting No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. Women in Motorsports North America 2025 Summit Details Confirmed Racing legend Lyn St. James and a founding member of Women in Motorsports North America along with WIMNA Executive Director Cindy Sisson announced the organization will hold its fifth annual Women with Drive – Driven by Mobil 1 Summit on Dec. 9-10 – returning to the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis for the second straight year in conjunction with the annual PRI show. WIMNA also officially announced that Mobil 1 will again support the summit and Allison Melangton, Senior Vice President of Penske Entertainment will again serve as the Honorary Chair of the summit, which “brings together motorsports professional, offering new pathways for individuals to explore career opportunities, discuss current industry challenges and provide mentorship and resources.” The annual event has grown exponentially with just less than 200 attending the first summit in 2021 in Nashville to drawing more than 600 people from 40 states and eight countries last year in Indianapolis. Women with Drive has consistently featured major motorsports executives and important figures in the sport – both on-track and corporate behind-the-scenes – speaking and leading panel discussions on a broad range of topics. And, Sisson said that at the most recent summit, nearly half the attendees were at their first WIMNA conference. “We’re trying to help grow the industry, it’s not just about women,” St. James said. “We do title it Women in Motorsports North America but I want to make it really clear it’s about men and women coming together to help grow the industry. “We do this because we advance opportunities for women in the industry as well as bringing new women in the industry through our educational activities and connect through all forms of motorsports and then we enable all people to realize, this is really a career. If you are studying, engineering, or you’re studying business or finance, there are careers in this industry. It’s growing and we want to help it grow by bringing people into it that maybe didn’t see it as a career opportunity.” For information about WIMNA or the 2025 Summit, visit womenwithdrivesummit.com Coming Attractions Two special events happened on Friday in Daytona, which IMSA will expand in greater detail in the coming days. To start the day, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University hosted the IMSA Technology Symposium. Panelists representing Microsoft, NASA, AMD, Michelin and IMSA spoke during the program. Later in the afternoon, a panel discussion including Iron Dames drivers and NASA astronauts and other key NASA officials was held in the Daytona International Speedway Drivers Meeting Room. The quartet of Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey and Karen Gaillard share the No. 83 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class. This is the lone all-female lineup in the 2025 Rolex 24, and this quartet are four of the seven female drivers in this year’s race (Lilou Wadoux, Sheena Monk and Tati Calderon). |
