At quarter race distance in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, it appeared we were watching a very long sprint race rather than a round-the-clock enduro.

After six hours the No.01 Ganassi car of Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Juan Pablo Montoya and Charlie Kimball held the lead over the Wayne Taylor entry featuring Max Angelelli, ALMS Corvette Racing enduro star Jordan Taylor and reigning IndyCar champ, Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Highlights of the race included a brilliant battle with Audi regular Allan McNish in the Starworks entry and Ganassi’s NASCAR Jamie McMurray.

McMurray thought he had put a pass on McNish only for the pint-sized Scot to go around the outside in turn one and then pin the NASCAR star behind a lapped car to grab the position back.

In GT Ferrari was the marque to watch after six hours – holding a 1-2 lead. The AIM Autosport Ferrari held the top spot with mutltiple ALMS-champion Olivier Beretta in second place aboard his Scuderia Corsa Micheloto entry.

ALMS GT regulars Cooper MacNeil, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Marco Holzer and Damien Faulkner sat third at 1/4 race distance aboard the Alex Job Racing Porsche.

Next year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona will mark the first race of the new combined sportscar series which will bring together both the American Le Mans Series and the GRAND-AM Rolex Series.