PAUL MILLER RACING PHOTO
Paul Miller Racing got both of its BMW M4 GT3 EVOs to the finish line
in the team’s first ever race with two cars after a crazy Rolex 24 At
Daytona.
PAUL MILLER RACING NO. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO WINS IMSA MICHELIN ENDURANCE CUP
ROUND AT DAYTONA
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (January 28, 2025) – Paul Miller Racing got both
of its BMW M4 GT3 EVOs to the finish line in the team’s first ever race
with two cars after a competitive and crazy 63rd running of the Rolex 24
At Daytona this past weekend at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).
The team’s best result was a fourth-place GTD Pro finish for the No. 1
Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo of Madison Snow, Neil Verhagen, Connor
De Phillippi, and Kelvin van der Linde and the Daytona GTD Pro victory
in the all-important opening round of the 2025 IMSA Michelin Endurance
Cup (IMEC).
Combined with the sister No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 Evos of Dan Harper, Max
Hesse, Jesse Krohn, and Augusto Farfus, Paul Miller Racing put in a GTD
Pro class-leading performance with both entries showing the pace and
competitive form needed to battle for the GTD Pro victory.
In the end, the important achievement of leaving the season’s biggest
IMEC round was tempered by a near-miss for the GTD Pro class win for the
No. 1 BMW team in the race’s wild final hour, but all at Paul Miller
Racing team left Daytona knowing they have the team, car and drivers for
a full-on assault on both the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship
and IMEC GTD Pro titles in 2025.
The Rolex 24 marked the first time Paul Miller Racing’s trademark No. 48
returned to competition since 2020 and the team made the most of the
opportunity. After leading the team with Harper’s third-place qualifying
effort in his IMSA debut, the team proved it was no fluke by jumping to
the race lead from third on the grid at the race start.
Harper led the first three laps of the races and then joined his
teammates as the lap leaders and the clear car to beat for more than the
opening quarter of the race. Unfortunately, a multiple car accident in
the infield Saturday night, which started when several GTP and LMP2
prototypes came together, caught up the No. 48 and several other
GTD-class cars just behind.
Hesse was actually hit from behind by a GTD Pro competitor that failed
to slow entering the melee and the No. 48 got the worst of it. The
damaged BMW was hauled back to the IMSA paddock where the PMR team
quickly went to work on repairs to the left rear of the BMW.
The team returned to the race several laps down and out of winning
contention, but the No. 48 completed the rest of the race as a “points
run” and learning lesson for the new driver additions all the way to
Sunday’s checkered flag. In the end, the No. 48 led the GTD Pro field
for 73 laps in the first third of the race and ultimately took the
checkered flag in 12th place.
Meanwhile, after a quiet and steady start, the No. 1 team’s race was
just starting to come to them Saturday evening. The team led for the
first time on Lap 165 and even swapped the top spot with the No. 48
twice just before Hesse was caught up in the wreck.
From there, the No. 1 became the lead fixture that their teammates were
in the race’s opening hours for more than the final half of the race.
The No. 1’s 187 laps led were the most in the race for a single car in
the GTD Pro class and kept the team on point and in the hunt for what
turned out to be a truly furious fight to the finish in the race’s final
hour.
A late pit stop miscue put the team out of the top five for the first
time in hours but, with Van der Linde at the wheel for the final run to
the checkered, the charge was on. Van der Linde moved the car back into
the lead pack battle that by that point had escalated to a highly
aggressive fight.
The No. 1 was involved in more than one contact incident and ultimately
ended up spinning off after a scuffle with another competitor in the
infield. With the clock ticking down, Van der Linde quickly continued in
the race but came up just short in securing a top-three podium finish.
Combined, the No. 48’s and No. 1’s total laps led was better than any
other two-car GTD Pro team in the Rolex 24 by a full 45 laps. As well,
the IMEC win in a Daytona race that pays out more points than any of the
other four rounds in the endurance championship has PMR nicely
positioned to pursue its third-straight IMEC season championship and
fourth in this decade.
The thoughts of what could have been more at Daytona linger, however,
but they will shift to motivational memories soon as the team prepares
for Round Two of both the IMSA WeatherTech full-season championship at
the 12 Hours of Sebring, March 12 – 15, at Sebring International
Raceway.