Rolex 24: Penske's Porsches lead with six hours remaining

The Captain is seeking a second consecutive win in the twice-round-the-clock race at Daytona International. Both of his entries took turns leading — no surprise considering their dominance last season.

The No. 7 from Porsche Penske Motorsport won the Rolex and the IMSA championship last season, while the No. 6 won the World Endurance Championship title. It was the No. 7 out front with six hours remaining in the race.

To win again this year, one of the cars must beat 60 others in a field of 235 drivers representing 31 countries. The lineups included 14 former Formula 1 drivers, including Felipe Nasr, part of Penske’s winning No. 7 car last year.

Kevin Magnussen, who just concluded his 10-year F1 career in December, has the most recent experience in motorsports’ elite global series and has a contending car with BMW M Team Rahal.

Rahal’s two cars led and contended with the Porsches but had issues that prevented them from keeping consistent pace with the Penske entries. Same for Meyer Shank Racing, which had a suspension issue early Saturday that took one car out of contention, then its second car suffered front damage when Felix Rosenqvist was leading.

All three Cadillacs in the prototype class had issues — one of Wayne Taylor Racing’s entries was knocked out of the race Saturday night when it was hit from behind not long after two-time Rolex winner Kamui Kobayashi had driven it to the lead.

Problems for the other entries in a race of attrition left shiny new Rolex watches dangling for Penske to collect with the No. 7 in the lead and the No. 6 in second at sunrise.

(Report by Jenna Fryer)