DAYTONA, 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.
Kelvin van der Linde
“Honestly, it was just an amazing race. This was my first time in the BMW, so a lot learned during 24 hours, a lot of experience for the season ahead. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would in my first race with BMW and with Paul Miller Racing fight for the win. It looked like we were going to win it until one hour to go when unfortunately we got unlucky with the last pit stop and lost a lot of ground.
“Starting from P6 on the final restart kind of made our day a bit more difficult than it needed to be but, nonetheless, I am just very proud of everybody, and the car was amazing. I have to go watch the video again. It felt very dramatic in the car.
“Everybody was fighting like crazy! Everyone just races really hard here, and the racing is obviously very tight so, as a racer myself, that’s what we live for, that’s what we come to race for. I’m really happy I could be part of that. I really missed racing in America, so it was a good reminder that I should come back more often.”
Neil Verhagen
“First, I want to say a big thank you and congratulations to Paul Miller Racing for stepping up and doing a two car program this year and running both cars extremely competitively all race. Another big thanks goes out to BMW for the brand new M4 GT3 EVO that we released this year.
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to make it three for three wins for the car so far, but it definitely had the potential to go and win it. It hurts, but hopefully we’ll be able to come back next year and try again. I think we could have seen that clearly whenever the No. 48 car got taken out early in the race, everyone went full hands on deck.
“Then it was all for the No. 1 car to try and win. I think the team did an incredible job, this all part of motorsport, and we’re going to have to try again.”
Connor De Phillippi
“It’s obviously a hard fought race from beginning to end. The team was relentless no matter the situation. The sister car, even when they were out of the race earlier, they helped us out all the way to the finish, which is an amazing team effort.
“Obviously, we would have liked to get the win, but you can’t always get those, which is a reason why a victory is so difficult. Everything needs to align perfectly.
“Certainly on the last pit stop, we would have liked to not lose those few spots, but that’s endurance racing and Kelvin gave a great effort at the finish to try to get the win.
“I felt I had a couple of great stints as well, and we ran up front leading the race for a long time, so something to be proud of for this year’s first effort with the team. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into Sebring.”
Max Hesse
”I want to say a massive thank you to Paul Miller Racing and BMW. Honestly, it’s been one of the best weeks I’ve had in my racing career. Just the whole working environment and the team atmosphere. It’s really amazing. It was the first race in IMSA for me and Dan, so obviously we would have loved to come in and get a win, and I think we definitely had the package.
“Our car was really performing amazing. All our pits were great. In that pile up our spotter did great work. He really pre-warned us well. Unfortunately, the competitor behind us didn’t, and we got hit in the rear. We had a lot of damage on the rear left which was fixed very, very quickly by the mechanics.
“So, once again a big thank you for that as well. After that we stayed on track and tried to get some more experience for Dan and myself with the restarts, the wave-bys and pit stops, all to just to be more prepared for Sebring.
“I’m very excited for the next round. I think we have what it takes to compete here at the top level in this championship. I know my team has it. So I’m really, really proud of them. Everybody in there. So let’s go and get them in Sebring.”
Dan Harper
“Overall, it’s disappointing to be honest. That’s the first feeling of the weekend. We were really quick, we started the race in perfect fashion, and after a good qualifying which was a bit sort of unexpected, and we were in a really good place.
“We were constantly fighting for the lead in class, all the pit stops were going smoothly and unfortunately then we got a little contact from another car in our class, which in the end destroyed our race. It was a shame but obviously the mechanics worked endlessly and there were a couple of times we were close to giving up but we didn’t, which is a great team spirit.
“Then we obviously focused on helping the sister car get the best result possible and ticking off our laps. The main thing was just getting the car to the end. I’m glad that we were able to do that. It’s a shame for the sister car in the end to miss out on the podium but, it’s motorsports. It always comes and goes for you, and we just need to focus on the next one now.”
Jesse Krohn
”First of all, I just want to highlight the team effort. I’m so grateful for everyone on the team and how everything was put together. We had a package that we could fight for the win with, and we all deserved more than what we got today.
“I’m super proud of the guys. I’m really proud to be part of this team. Grateful to be here. I just wanted to give more for the guys because they all worked so hard and that made me motivated to do the right things out on track.
“So it’s a true team effort, and I’m really happy to be part of this team. It’s a team effort and we all did very well. It was a hard day but we’ll come back stronger.”
Agusto Farfus
”It’s a very sad outcome of the weekend, where we led pretty much the first six hours of the race. The No. 48 car was running trouble-free, very fast and upfront.
“Me and my teammates did an incredible job together with the entire Paul Miller Racing team, which put up a brand new two-car team for the biggest race of the year, and we showed up in a stellar form. I’m very sad that, first of all, we got hit, or Max got hit from behind, nothing he could have done about that.
“Our race, pretty much, was over then. Also, the No. 1, which was in contention for the victory, at a certain point, also lost it. Well done to BMW to show up in the first American race with the Evo car and run that strong. I think there is a good base to build a stronger year ahead. Thanks to Paul Miller Racing and hope to be back.”
