2025 HSR Daytona Classic 24/Daytona Historics, Days 3-4

Daytona Classic 24/Daytona Historics Race Day, Saturday, 08 November 2025

Daytona Classic 24 Groups A-G Race #1

The morning started with the other B.R.M. race and the second sprint race for each HSR group.  I did not see these sessions, nor did I see the first classic 24 group run. Gil West/ Owen Trinkler were leading Group E after the first session ended.  I showed up in time to see the start of Group A.  I began the Classic 24 by shooting in an area called “bus stop,” now known as the “Le Mans Chicane.”  Many long-time fans generally reject this name change and still call it the bus stop, myself included.

Group A Race #1

Group A was where the Lolas lived.  Sleek, fast, and conjuring visions of the glory days of racing. These two fine examples sped around the course as if riding on rails.  One of them, the #27 1969 Lola T70 Mk III driven by Gerard Lopez and Marcel Faessler, was leading at the end of their first session.  This is a car that is rumored to have been turned into a Porsche 917 for the movie “Le Mans”, crashed for one of the pinnacle scenes, and then restored to its original Lola make. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it makes for a nice story. Alain Rüede was behind him in the 1965 Shelby CSX 4000. 

No one was really close at that point, as he had already extended a 2:18 gap between himself and Alain, and had already put 7 laps on the slowest car in the field. Martin Wachter’s Lola, the #5 Maniac sponsored ’68, was currently running in fifth place at the one hour mark.  I remained at the bus stop through half of the Group B race, and then drove to turn 5 for sunset. This is the spot for those warm, glowing shots as the sun dives down below the horizon.  If luck will have it, the odd glowing brake rotor could appear, you never know. 

Group C/D Race #1

On track was the Group C/D classic 24 race #1. Florent Moulin led the field by 6.74 seconds at the end, completing 21 laps in 41:57.404 total time in the Dodge Viper GTS-R.  He led mark Drain who was in second spot in the 2004 Courage C65. These were the last shots in daylight, after this it would be on through the night, with the sun racing around to come up behind us again.

Group F Race #1

The light was changing by the minute, and I had to adapt quickly. The sky was still aglow when the prototypes of Group F stormed by, led by the #3 2015 Ligier JS P315 of Liang Qiu. The Cadillacs were leading at the flag, with Gerard Lopez / Marcel Faessler in first, Juan Gonzalez / Roberto Gonzalez / Butch Leitzinger taking second, and Juan Gonzalez / Roberto Gonzalez / Butch Leitzinger holding third spot after 42 minutes of racing.

I returned to the tire wall inside the turn 6 apex for the Group G race, the final round of the race 1 sessions, and the quarter mark of the Classic 24. 

Images from Groups A-G, Race #1

Daytona Classic 24 Groups A-G Race #2

The second rotation of races began at 8PM, just after the fireworks display. 
6 hours in, 18 to go. 

Group A Race #2

To start the cycle again, Group A was back for round 2, kicking off their first bout of night racing.  Alain Rüede put in 19 laps in 42:29.681 minutes, adding to his first-round total and picking off Gerard Lopez / Marcel Faessler to take the cumulative lead as the sole participant in the lead lap (39).  Lopez and Faessler shared the top spots with David Agretelis and Robert Spence, each with 38 laps logged. 

Group B Race #2

Todd Treffert maintained the lead in Group B in his 1974 Porsche 935 “Baby” 2.1T. Treffert logged 20 additional laps just ahead of Mitchell Eitel and yes, that is Alain Rüede holding down third in the heat as well as the overall standings, this time in a 1982 Chevrolet Camaro IMSA. 

The area on the up-track end of the “Horseshoe” carousel, turn 3, is generally usable from outside the spectator fence, so long as you can grab a spot (it gets busy at times) and set your camera for 10m-infinity focus and set your tracking to ignore obstacles. The thing that makes this easy to cover from outside the fence is the height of the Armco.

A View of the “Horseshoe” carousel, just inside the spectator fence.

Groups C/D Race #2

I was feeling the need for a break during the Group C/D race, but I wanted to try and catch some of the pyrotechnics displayed by one of the cars. The ’94 Porsche 965/964 Turbo that Preston Brown was co-driving with Cody Forbes and Mike Skeen delivered. Preston was also co-driving the #75 Porsche 962 with Denis Dupont in the same group.

Group E Race #2

The #911 Gil West / Owen Trinkler Porsche 991.2 GT3 R was still out front in the very competitive Group E race after 2 rounds. This car features a tribute to three highly successful Porsche factory and IMSA winning drivers: (Mathieu) Jaminet, (Matt) Campbell and (Patrick) Pilet. He stayed ahead of Cory Friedman who was in second overall in the 2016 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3 #515.

Images from Groups A-E, Race #2

Daytona Classic 24/Daytona Historics Race Day, Sunday, 09 November 2025

By the time the prototypes in Group F were setting up for their race #2 I was pretty well cooked.  I had made it to midnight, and still intended to stay the course until dawn at least but I was going to need some down time.  I stayed for about 15 minutes at the turn 3 entrance and snapped a few shots. The Lopez / Faessler team kept the #5 Mustang Sampler Cadillac Dallara Dpi in first over Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss in round 2, but the team of Juan Gonzalez / Roberto Gonzalez / Butch Leitzinger was holding second in the overall standings because of a 39 second advantage in the first round. The three cars were the only ones on the lead lap after the second race.

Daytona Classic 24 Groups A-G Race #3

I headed out and about to find a little corner to sleep in the car for a while, which turned out to be close to the entrance gate to Taylor Lake. Around 4AM I lifted the camera again for the Group C/D race #3.  Mark Drain in the 2004 Courage C65 had gone 9 laps down in round 2 but clawed his way back from 13th place in the overall to 9th by taking the race 3 win, 11 seconds ahead of the overall winner Florent Moulin in the #92 Viper.

I slept a little more and was awakened…not by a noise, but by an uncharacteristic silence. I realized it had been going on for much too long to be the 18-minute break between races.  It wasn’t long before I discovered the reason; one of the cars was stuffed into the barrier on the backstretch. 

A Foggy Morning

During the night, a dense fog bank descended on the track.  This brought an eerie feeling to everything, especially against the backdrop of the even more uncomfortable silence. 

After a long delay the prototypes were back for round 3.  I enjoyed seeing them again but I felt I had done my job and it was time to get out. Rain was a certainty, and it was now just a matter of heading back to the room for some rest.  While I was walking to return my shooting vest to the security room the rain began. I decided to have one more go at it for the start of the final Group A race. 

I found some fresh energy and made my way to the course to catch some water coming off the tires.  Group G was my last race of the day. I lined up on the outside of the catch fence and got them coming out of 4.

The Porsches were still screaming down the track, putting in their final laps for Race #3. I thought about staying to watch the last races, but the urge to sleep prevailed .

My next report will cover the HSR Sebring “Pistons & Props” event at Sebring International Raceway. 

Please have a look at this and my other reports. You can check out my website as well in the link below.

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