Kevin Magnussen on pole for first post-F1 BMW outing at Daytona 24 Hours

The #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 which Kevin Magnussen will pilot in his debut at the Daytona 24 Hours will start on pole at the American enduro classic.

After losing his seat at the Haas Formula 1 team, Magnussen signed with BMW to become one of the German brand’s factory drivers for the 2025 season.

Focusing primarily on the World Endurance Championship with WRT, Magnussen will also campaign the three big IMSA SportsCar Championship endurance contests - beginning this weekend with the Daytona 24 Hours.

The #24 car that Magnussen will share with Dries Vanthoor, Philipp Eng and Raffaele Marciello (who will join MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi in a WRT-run BMW at the Bathurst 12 Hour) will start the Daytona classic from pole.

Vanthoor was tasked with driving the car for the GTP class pole shootout, and did so with a 1m33.895s lap. It marked the first pole for BMW's LMDh project.

“For sure it wasn’t easy with the red flag,” Vanthoor said, referencing the session-stopping issue for the #25 BMW early on.

“It makes tyre warming a bit more difficult for everyone.

“That was a big struggle for us last year, but we have been improving a lot.

“Then it was just about getting the lap together and trying to do the best that I could. That worked out, luckily, so I am very happy.

“We’ve been working hard.

“It’s nice to see that it’s working for everyone here, and also everyone back at the factory.

“I think everybody can be happy and proud of that, but [the pole] is a little cherry on a big cake and there’s still a big thing still to happen. That’s the race, and that can go any way.”

The 2025 Daytona 24 Hours will start at 6:40pm GMT on Saturday 24 January.