DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Luca Mars (Grand Sport, GS) and Bryson Morris (Touring Car, TCR) set respective new track records in qualifying for Friday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season-opening BMW M Endurance Challenge.
Mars, in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS, surpassed a six-year-old mark in GS. The 2024 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Grand Sport X (GSX) class champion set a best lap of 1 minute, 52.117 seconds (114.309 mph) around the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway track. That beat the prior mark set by Paul Holton in 2019, 1:52.143. He’ll share the No. 28 car with 2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge GS champion Jan Heylen as part of a new-look lineup.
In TCR, Morris eclipsed Hyundai teammate Harry Gottsacker for that class’ new mark. A lap of 1 minute, 56.457 seconds (110.049 mph) was exactly three tenths quicker than Gottsacker’s time set in 2024. Morris shares the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR with Mark Wilkins, the 2019 TCR champion.
The Herta drivers, as part of the 2025 Hyundai Drivers Camp, have had a busy week of activity prior to Friday’s race. The camp kicked off on Tuesday at nearby Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, where the Hyundai drivers had the opportunity to test-fly a variety of flight simulators. The test run included aircraft landing, F22 canyon flights, crosswind training and the CRJ 200 commercial jet flight simulator.
“What an incredible experience. We were curious to see how much cognitive crossover there is between pilots and race car drivers. It turns out there are many similarities, especially with focus and reactive abilities,” said Wilkins.
There is a final 30-minute practice session Friday morning at 9:25 a.m. ET before the green flag of the four-hour race at 1:45 p.m. ET. Live coverage streams on Peacock (U.S.) and YouTube.com/IMSAOfficial (outside the U.S.).