24 Hours of Daytona: All-star Kiwi lineup in running at sportscar endurance race

Scott Dixon will compete in the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race. Photo / Getty Images

The Roar Before the 24 this weekend is the warm-up for the running of the 24 Hours of Daytona sportscar endurance race next weekend and five New Zealanders are suiting up.

There are six practice sessions over the weekend, with qualifying for the main race on Monday. Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin, Earl Bamber, Brendon Hartley and Hunter McElrea will all be keen to do well in the opening sportscar race of 2024.

There are four categories — GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD — with Kiwis contesting three of them.

Hartley returns for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti alongside Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Marcus Ericsson, and will be looking to improve on their second placing last year in the Acura ARX-06.

Dixon returns to Chip Ganassi Racing’s Cadillac Racing entry alongside Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and IndyCar champion Alex Palou in the V-Series.R

McLaughlin and McElrea join the LMP2 field, with the former returning to 12 Hours of Sebring-winning Tower Motorsports alongside John Ferano, Ferdinand Habsburg and Michael Dinan in an Oreca 07-Gibson.

McElrea makes his TDS Racing and 24 Hours of Daytona debut partnering Steven Thomas, Mikkel Jensen and Charles Milesi also in an Oreca 07-Gibson.

Bamber is in the GTD Pro class, fronting up for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports with Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg in the Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

There is a pseudo-sixth Kiwi in the field — Tom Blomqvist, who now races under his British nationality but grew up in New Zealand, winning multiple national karting championships before heading back to Europe to develop his racing skills.

Blomqvist is chasing his third straight outright win at the Daytona 24 Hour, having previously won in 2022 and 2023 with Myer Shank Racing in an Acura.

This year, though, he’s with Action Express Racing in a Cadillac V-Series.R alongside Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken.

Blomqvist is no stranger to the team, having tested with them in December, and is now comfortable being part of the crew and knowing how they operate.

This weekend will be the last chance for teams and drivers to make last-minute adjustments and improvements before the race.

The race never fails to attract a bumper field of high-quality international drivers. This year is no exception, with 59 cars due to hit the track over the next couple of days.

Drivers up for Halberg Award

Two Kiwi drivers are in the mix for winning New Zealand’s Favourite Sporting Moment at the Halberg Awards.

First up is Shane van Gisbergen, who by winning last year’s street race at Chicago became the first driver in 60 years to win on debut in a Nascar race. He was also the first Kiwi to compete at Nascar Cup level and just the sixth international driver to win a Cup Series race.

Second is Liam Lawson, who became only the sixth New Zealander to score points in a Formula One race, and more impressively in only his third race after subbing in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo.

At the time Lawson was racing, he was the highest point-scoring driver at Alpha Tauri.

“I call on all motorsport fans and sporting fans in New Zealand to cast their votes and get behind Liam and Shane in what were truly generational achievements,” said MotorSport New Zealand chief executive Elton Goonan.