New Zealand’s top motorsport talents will be front and centre next week at Daytona International Speedway as teams conduct pre-season testing ahead of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The multi-day event from November 13-16 will see 38 cars from GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD classes on track, providing an early glimpse of the next season’s line-ups and performance upgrades.
Among the Kiwi contingent, Scott McLaughlin will return to Porsche Penske Motorsport for more seat time in the 963 Hypercar, having already tested the prototype at Sebring earlier this year.
McLaughlin is scheduled to drive the No. 6 and No. 7 cars, sharing duties with Australian Matt Campbell, Josef Newgarden, Julien Andlauer, and Felipe Nasr.
While this does not confirm McLaughlin’s 2026 Rolex 24 driving role, it hints at Porsche’s plans amid changes to their endurance driver roster, including the recent departure of Mathieu Jaminet and uncertainty around Nick Tandy.
Scott Dixon is another Kiwi headline act, joining Acura Meyer Shank Racing for testing in the ARX-06. Dixon, who has long been a mainstay of international endurance racing, will share one of the two ARX-06s with AJ Allmendinger, Alex Palou, and Kakunoshin “Kaku” Ohta.
Meanwhile, Earl Bamber is set to drive the Whelen-backed Cadillac V-Series.R for Action Express Racing, and young gun Hunter McElrea will represent New Zealand in the LMP2 class with United Autosports. Both are expected to get extensive laps, allowing teams to evaluate line-ups and fine-tune car performance before the 2026 Rolex 24.
Across the wider field, all 11 GTP cars expected for the full WeatherTech Championship will participate, including a third Porsche 963 run by JDC-Miller MotorSports, Cadillac’s V-Series.R entries from Wayne Taylor Racing, BMW M Hybrid V8s from BMW M Team WRT, and the Aston Martin Valkyrie from Aston Martin THOR Team.
Several manufacturers are also expected to test performance upgrades, taking advantage of IMSA rules that permit limited “evo” changes to the cars.
The LMP2 field will see 10 of the 12 full-season entries on track, with new line-ups for United Autosports USA and Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen among the highlights. GTD Pro and GTD cars will run sessions on Sunday, while Saturday features all four classes on track simultaneously, giving teams a full picture of how the cars stack up against the competition.
For the Kiwi drivers, the Daytona test represents more than just laps; it’s an opportunity to cement their status in international sports car racing and get a head start on 2026 preparations.
With multiple IMSA teams juggling driver rotations and car updates, the spotlight on McLaughlin, Dixon, Bamber, and McElrea will be one of the main storylines as the pre-season unfolds.
The Daytona test is not mandatory for Rolex 24 entrants, but for Kiwi fans and the drivers themselves, it offers the first real chance to see how New Zealand talent shapes the championship’s early form ahead of the new season.
Header Image: IMSA
