FINAL STANDINGS

SUNDAY 26th MAY

We're going to go a little quiet here as we'll be running around with cameras.

Tune in to Instagram at 12:55 to see us crown CI1 and CSM Racing champions.

I've gone and called it already.

We're hosting a car meet right now at Daytona Tamworth in collaboration with Drivers Unity. It's absolutely poppin'.

We'll try and get a few pictures.

For those of you following the race from home, we'll be going live on the @Daytonamsport instagram account. Make sure you tune in to soak up the atmosphere.

The race has set itself up for an absolutely electric final hour here in Milton Keynes, with so many battles suddenly popping up on the circuit.

In the DMAX class, the two CI karts still lead 1-2, as they have done since the very early stages and it would be difficult to look past them for the eventual victory here in the race. Karlis Elmanis is at the wheel of the Open Throttle kart trying to chase after Six Helmets Racing for third after a disappointing final stop - his efforts currently looking in vain but everything to play for in the closing stages. There's also been a monster triple stint for Peter Stockwin and KBR, just coming to its conclusion with the KBR now looking almost certain to secure sixth ahead of Apollo.

It's been just as interesting in the SODI class, where CSM racing haven't looked back since taking the lead yesterday evening. Some Random Bloke have been their best competition, but look resigned to what would still be a very impressive second spot. We must not fail to mention the two DNH karts, Miles-Shelby and Kristensen - the latter fighting back from a multitude of issues to get themselves into the top four. If the teams can hold on to it, this will be a really commendable run.

With just an hour remaining, the finale to this race is going to be very interesting.

Drama for Open Throttle!

Their kart doesn't start at the end of what was otherwise a flawless pitstop. Easily lost 15 seconds.

Olly Smith was preparing for an EKS stint, but the kart runs out of fuel on the weigh bridge... looks like Jamie Tiley-Gooden is going to have to do another stint.

Open Throttle getting ready for a pitstop and are currently 20 seconds behind Six Helmets Racing.

But can Open Throttle make it to the end of the race with just one more stop?

At one stage it looked highly unlikely that Open Throttle would have much of a chance chasing down that huge gap to third, yet Bobby Trundley has managed to close it significantly, down all the way to 15 seconds. That last little bit will possibly be the hardest to get, however.

Not too much to report on in terms of race standings. The most exciting battles on track at the moment are between P3-P11 in both classes.

Apollo are under pressure from KBR, just eight seconds between them. Peter Stockwin has been at the wheel of the 113 for a while now and is putting in a monster stint.

Yousuf thinks there's just the one stop left for our DMAX class, meaning all of our top ten (who we've seen into the pits) should have a straightforward job from here. CI Group have the one-two in sight from here.

Have been meaning to do a Voltarol Racing-themed update all race long.

They've flown in from Portugal (and one from Germany) and are putting in a remarkable performance in P10 at the time of making the graphic.

We went to their command centre earlier to get an interview, but they were taking a siesta. (Do Portuguese people take siestas?!)

Massive shout outs to Nuno Costa, Miguel Bento, Marco Silva, Ricardo Guedes, Nuno Henriques and Niklas Stiere. Thanks for coming.

Wolves might try and sign a few of you this summer.

"I'd never even driven a kart until yesterday morning. It’s been amazing. We've tried to stay out of trouble, couple of black flags for silly things. The whole team has absolutely loved it." David McArthur - Team Captain

It gets more dramatic as Six Helmets Racing are pulled into the pits due to an incorrectly fitted rib protector. That brings the gap down to just a lap...

Peter Stockwin's gone and set a 1:06.7 as they desperately try to work their way back up the standings.

We're glad we got to use this graphic.

One of the TRX karts has ran out of fuel heading into t9, bringing out a full course yellow as we head into the late stages. This is huge for the DMAX field as we are right on the expected fuel window giving the entire field a free pit stop.

We now have just a 'regular' enduro to go. CI Group tend to win those a lot too tbf.

Alex Osborne, Head Office Sales rep-turned-fuel-bay-hunk looked cool as a cucumber yesterday.

You can stream the mixtape on Limewire, Tidal or Soundcloud.

KBR have just received a back flag for their pitlane speed, which temporarily takes them out of contention for the top five in DMAX.

That could be really, really costly.

According to Yousuf, Six Helmets Racing have just pitted from second place, having completed the best stint of the 24 hours, momentarily overtaking CI2.

Their driver was absolutely rapid, having recorded the most consistent fast laps of the race. Who was it? We don't know.

TRX Motorsport Pro are looking to reclaim their top five spot which they sat in earlier in the race, right now they're chasing about a fifteen second gap to Algorithmic Ascendancy for eight position. They need to get a move on as there's 'only' 3 hours to go.

Ever fallen into a bin?

You'd probably hope that nobody noticed.

Daytona venues are monitored by CCTV at all times.

Sorry, Don.

We've had a few of these come in now, probably a good place to start with the DMAX leaders.

"Our drivers have been utterly exceptional overnight, in horrible conditions. Not gonna mention any names, but at least one of our drivers used his kart as a lavatory"

Lovely.

Not sure what happened to EKS' second team, who find themselves last place in DMAX. Any insights anybody?

MasterCarts Lola are second last, with Old N Gold nine laps ahead of them.

Crash Test Dummies are in last place in the SODIs. We have some jokes headshot photos of them. Last place headshot cards incoming.

Gliptone are in second last place, with UKSimRacing ahead of them by fourteen laps.

We are 20 hours into this race and both class leaders absolutely have this race in their control, though will be patiently aware that this can change very quickly. CI1 have three laps in hand to the sister team, and CSM have extended their SODI lead to five laps over Some Random Bloke.

CI Group's tactical game has been impeccable. They have their team captains walking their karts into the pitlane, ensuring their drivers don't get penalised for needless speeding penalties. Their radio communication and multi-screen setup at their command centre is reminiscent of an F1 team.

Fair play.

After all the Pit Stops level up the playing field, our commentators reckon EKS All-Stars are primed for fifth place, after some strong driving from Olly Smith.

We boldly stated yesterday that there's no chance KBR would finish anywhere near eleventh.

We were right.

They're storming up the standings into fifth place, four laps behind Open Throttle.

What a comeback.

Just caught up with Omar Aswat, mastermind behind the @KTips YouTube channel.

He was tucking into his breakfast of smoked salmon & scrambled egg (delicately garnished with chives).

He's been karting all around the world - and he reckons this event is just about the pinnacle of endurance races.

We'll be interviewing him later.

Daytona have just about completed all of our very own 'driver swaps'.

The daytime crew are now in Race Control. Massive respect to Yiorgos and Pat for their overnight shift.

The overnight engineers are on their way home too. Drive safe guys!

There were some tired looking faces in the fuel bay this morning too - massive shift guys - you rock.

Drivers taking the wet line down at turn one has caused race control a headache in the last 10 minutes or so, they've had to announce a crackdown on hitting of the outside turn 1 tyre walls due to marshalls having to consistently fix them.

Battle is on for fifth position between KBR and EKS All-Stars in the DMAX class. The EKS team are 3.8 seconds behind, and also under further pressure from Apollo Racing just 5s behind themselves. Yousuf suspects that there has been a moment for the EKS team somewhere on track.

We're here with Liam Sewell, Group Head of Engineering, who has a few words to say.

"We've been committed to ensuring the quickest maintenance stops possible. For each stop, we have up to six members of our team working on every kart, each committed to a different part.

Dale was checking wheel nuts, Chris was on spark plug duty, Lukas chain tensions and engine mount bolts, Luke was on exhausts and radiators, Benny and I were responsible for getting the karts in and out as quickly as we could.

It's been mental overnight - we're running on adrenaline & coffee.

My team are unbelievable."

Not quite as bright and beautiful as yesterday.

The overnight showers have added to the drama.

CSM Racing still seemingly in control, leading the pack in the 4-strokes.

Their closest rivals, Some Random Bloke, look set to finish in second.

Behind them, we have a triple threat of DNH teams - Miles Shelby in P3, Kristensen Klub in P4, and Ickx's Icons in fifth. Team captain Chris Thompson will be pretty chuffed with that.

TRX have dropped off a little bit - we understand they've had a fair few drivers who needed to retire - and find their three teams in eighth, ninth & tenth respectively.

All good in the hood.

All the karts come to a halt. Apparently somebody got out their kart.

Where it's wet now, lots of spinning as people lock their brakes.

Kart 132, Team Sixty Eight made a fatigue-induced whoopsie.

They took their kart into the pitlane, requesting a mechanical check a few minutes before they were due their scheduled maintenance stop.

There were THREE red flags overnight.

There were also three kart swaps.

Pals Battalion retired from the race.

Multiple teams are running dangerously low on available drivers - TRX Women are down to one.

Somebody got black flagged for absolutely pelting it into the pitlane in critical need of a wee - and sprinted off before we could speak to them to relieve themselves.

Last year's winners, Apollo Racing have made up ground overnight too, and find themselves in P5 just above Algorithmic Ascendancy.

Andrew McWilliam put in an unbelievable performance overnight for EKS All-stars, getting his team up to third. He then swapped for a teammate, and they received two black flags, and now find themselves in seventh.

Karlis Elmanis & Bobby Trundley (and possibly some other members of the team - not sure) have made up the ground overnight and now find themselves in fourth, with Six Helmets two laps ahead of them.

Not really.

However, there's been a change in the lead, with CI Group One overtaking their sister team in the standings.

Henry Treanor, their secret weapon in the wet, put in some mega overnight shifts and puts them in the lead.

Back again... Admin's back...

Just been given the lowdown on some of the overnight drama.

Where to start?

SATURDAY 25th MAY

We're asking our guests and those tuning in online about their favourite Daytona Endurance memories over the years.

All anecdotes welcome, including gruesome details.

Message us on Instagram or Facebook and we'll share them here.

We're off, good luck to all racers competing overnight.

There's a rain shower forecast at 2am so it's going to get hectic out there, especially as the fatigue kicks in.

We'll be going live with Yousef tomorrow morning to fill you in with what happened overnight.

See you just after 7am!

We've just received a lovely message from Tibor Polacsek, who usually races for CSM Racing.

He's had to skip the race this year, as his wife gave birth to his son, Dominik, on Thursday night.

Welcome to the Daytona Community, Dominik!

We can't make any noise on our tannoy after 10pm, so we'll be pausing commentary until the morning.

We'll also be wrapping up on the live updates soon.

Race leaders CI Group Two make the first DMAX maintenance stop of the day.

Our team of engineers give the kart a once over and send them on their way in breakneck speeds.

CI Group One follow, as it goes in race order.

Trundley ends his stint, subbing for another professional racing driver in Cameron Das for Open Throttle. They're down to tenth place now after the swap.

Team Sixty Eight and Six Helmets still battling for P3, with Voltarol just behind them.

Needless to say, the CI Group brethren are still in the lead in P1 & P2.

The height of British banter.

Yousef speculates that there's a 95% chance of the heavens opening at 2am. That's a little more definitive than the 50% chance for race start.

I don't fancy betting against that this time round.

However, I won't know, I'll be in bed.

A rain shower could shake up the pack somewhat.

We had them tipped as podium contenders before the race had started. An early penalty didn't help their cause, but they'll be disappointed to find themselves in eleventh.

The good news for them is, there's more than sixteen hours remaining for them to make up ground.

It would be very surprising if they finished in this position. They're littered with Daytona Milton Keynes veterans.

Trundley's a man on a mission for Open Throttle, he's closing in on Voltarol in fifth, and not too far behind fourth too.

He was sixteen seconds behind at one point, and now just a five second gap between them.

I reckon he's gonna do it...

We told you that we took pictures of our dinner earlier.

Here's the iconic Daytona Smash Burger, in all its glory.

And the best news of all... we're serving them all through the night!

We probably should have mentioned Vertice Haase Motorsport by now.

They've been very consistent and find themselves up in seventh space, finding themselves above mega-quick teams like TRX Pro, EKS All-stars and KBR.

There are a couple of tasty battles developing.

Olly Smith, racing for EKS All-Stars made a cheeky little move on Algorithmic Ascendency into Turn 5.

Meanwhile, Bobby Trundley has claimed sixth place for Open Throttle heading through Turn 7 just a few laps later. It looks like he could take fifth as he gains on Voltarol Racing.

CSM Racing are still seemingly in control, just ahead of title rivals Some Random Bloke - the two teams even in terms of laps raced, locked into a thrilling battle.

DNH Miles Shelby Squad have preserved their P3 spot, with TRX Women closely on their tail, just one lap behind.

DNH Ickx's Icons are locked into a battle with TRX SODI.

It seems it's a battle of the three letter abbreviations.

After a small hiatus - yes, we went to the pavilion to sample some of Shane's famous Grimsby-sourced beer battered fish and chips - we're back. (Yes, we took some pictures of our scran - coming soon)

Since we've been gone, Bobby Trundley has entered the fray for Open Throttle Racing. He's been super consistent, as has them up to eighth place. Apparently he wants to do a double stint so we'll keep you posted on how he progresses.

The battle for the lead has heated up, too with CI1 now level on laps with CI2, who are still in P1.

We've also seen a remarkable stint for TRX Motorsport Pro in kart 120 - they're now up to sixth place.

Voltarol have driven flawlessly all day, and find themselves in fifth place, just behind Six Helmets in P4. Team Sixty Eight are clinging onto P3, but its very close between all three teams.

Six Helmets are having a neck-and-neck battle with Team Sixty Eight, with the former currently ahead, having completed the same number of laps.

*edit - the below graphic is meant to say DMAX not SODI... long day.

If you were with us about an hour ago, you'd know that CI1 had dropped out of the top three. Since the restart and the cycling back through of pitstops, they've got themselves back behind their sister team in second. However, the margin between them is still looking ominously large.

With CSM Racing and Some Random Bloke seemingly running away in the SODIs, there looks like there will be an intriguing battle for third place.

DNH Miles-Shelby, TRX Women, DNH Ickx's Icons and #RacingGrid are all super close to one another.

We're now serving our regular Cafe menu, plus our talented team of chefs have a limited number of portions of fish & chips available - complete with homemade tar tar, curry sauce and mushy peas.

Four DMAX teams receiving penalties for not maintaining gaps under full course yellow race restart:

131
122
110
104

and two SODIs:

13
16

We've just heard that six teams are about to be penalised... stay tuned.

We're back underway!

Our first red flag of the day after a BIG tyre wall impact for a TRX Motorsport Elite driver on turn one.

That looked painful but the driver is up and walking off. We hope they're okay!

A five minute break for the drivers on grid to recalibrate their hand circulation.

We have plenty of pictures of our primary assets in action...

Pitstops have started to cycle through so it's difficult to tell what the actual net positions of a lot of our drivers are but at least for now CI1 have fallen out of the top two for the first time since the very start of this race. This will be frustrating for them as their sister team, CI2, still sit pretty in a dominant first.

James Brown is about to jump in the kart for CI Group One.

Let's have a look at the last places. Going Going Gone are currently occupying P27, 22 laps behind leaders CI2. Ahead of them by three laps are Pals Battalion, and MasterCarts Lola in P25, after their earlier five lap penalty.

In the SODIs, Crash Test Dummies are living up to their names, in 20th position, five laps behind Gliptone Europe. It's a little bit of a closer race between the handful of teams ahead of the pair by at least nine laps.

We knew they were going to be hard to beat. CI2 & CI1 have occupied the top two spots for the majority of the race.

Will Six Helmets or Team Sixty Eight be able to catch them up?

TRX Motorsport Women have moved up to third place in the SODIs.

They'll have strong support on our socials, as the entire 50+ Jamie Chadwick Series racers will be cheering them on - with three of their drivers competing there - Emily Lloyd, Lucie Shuckford and Keira Boylan.

Keira took the team from P14-P3 in one stint.

As Yousef reads out Charles' endurance tales from Brazil over the tannoy, he curiously asks 'Who's Jim?'

Anthony Osborn, Daytona Milton Keynes deputy chief, has his head in his hands.

It's Harry Nottage's turn to submit to the dulcet tones of DMAX engines, as the hypnotising purrs send him into a deep sleep.

He's turned into a perfectly-formed hedge, perfect for Homer to hide within.

Hot favourites for the SODI race, CSM Racing, have taken the lead ahead of Some Random Bloke, having completed two more laps.

Runners up from last year, Team Sixty Eight, are building up a head of steam and growing into this race nicely. They're now up to P4 in the standings.

This one's going to take some topping. It's from Charles Graham, Daytona Motorsport CEO:

"About twenty years ago, the Daytona management team flew to Brazil for a 24 Hour Kart Race in memorial of Ayrton Senna. We flew from Heathrow, to Lisbon, to Rio de Janeiro, to Sao Paulo... and then we got a 150km taxi to a small city called Itu.

When we arrived, we found out the karts they had imported hadn't cleared customs. The race was meant to start at midday. After a large brown envelope was exchanged, the karts arrived, under police escort, and the race started at 1am.

The gearing was wrong on the karts - their engines kept blowing up, and all the spare engines had been nicked during a break-in the week before. A wheel  fell off Jim's kart and he had to complete most of a lap with three wheels. Marshals were positioned on concrete posts throughout the track, several of them asleep. There were even rumours of handguns being brandished."

The race leaders are the same as when the race started...

CI Group 2 have recorded the race's fastest lap of 1:05.782 and Some Random Bloke the same in the SODIs - 1:13.94.

Pals Batalion have had a mare, they've received a five-lap penalty for being underweight, and ended up right near the bottom of the pack.

Just a few more laps, mate...

Some fuel bay action, in four pictures:

No... not Bruno Fernandes, he's pretty happy right now.

Voltarol Racing (kart 103), who were in the top five, suffer a kart breakdown upon pit entry.

It looks like another fuel depletion.

They fall down to sixth.

Trent Moroney of Apollo Racing is the first victim to fatigue.

We're only a couple of hours into the race...

Rest up, hun.

Apparently there's some sort of football match on?

Surely nobody's interested in that - all eyes are on Daytona Milton Keynes' Speedhive live timing app.

Yousef reckons the B in KBR stands for 'Bee'. Their black and yellow suits make them easy to distinguish out on track. They're all the way down in 18th place, after being one of the teams that received a black flag earlier.

They'll work their way back up the field though - it's a long race.

Daytona Milton Keynes General Manager Alistair Pringle has all of the team captains huddled, deep in dialogue.

I imagine he's just letting them know how many portions of fish & chips there are for dinner later on.

Yousef's there with them. He'll let us know what's going on when he's back. It's likely to be because of the mass black flags mentioned in the previous update.

During the earlier full course yellows there were multiple infringements. The following karts are all set to receive black flag penalties:

115
5
20
30
121
109
23
12
34
24
7
28
35
123
126
119
131
17
122
110

It might have been easier for us to tell you which karts didn't receive a penalty...

This will almost certainly shake up the race standings.

Motorsport commentator extraordinaire Jake Sanson has just DM'd us on Instagram - he couldn't make it this year - and said the following:

"It's always been the Iron-man lone ranger attempts for me - those people that genuinely think they have the stamina and energy to go to distance alone. It's a race that tests the mettle of even the strongest kart driver. They fail 100% of the time. Or did I just create a challenge?"

The FOURTH DMAX to run out of fuel.

This time it's kart 109 - Balaclava Team.

This ones the most dramatic yet - they were leading the race for a short period earlier...

We've had a TWO more DMAX run out of fuel during the Full Course Yellows, as they're coming in to refuel.

It's Team 68 and Algorithmic Ascendency.

Uh oh.

Somebody has run out of fuel just before the pit entry.

Looks like it's Kart 110 - MasterCarts Lola. They're heading to the back of the DMAX standings.

CI Group One lick their lips, taking advantage with a driver swap.

Remember when the commentators AND Accuweather both said it was going to rain at 1pm?

It didn't. (See 10:44)

45 minutes into the race and it's so far, so good for CI2 & CI1 in the top two places, with a seven second gap to the karts behind.

We've just witnessed our first driver swap, as EKS' Andrew McWilliam makes way for Jamie Sheerman-Chase.

In the SODIs, there is no change with Some Random Bloke seemingly in control.

Commentator Yousef's highlight was when his teammate walked into the awnings after a mechanical, proudly brandishing his steering wheel which had snapped off the steering column!

Anybody want to embarrass one of their teammates publicly? DM us on Instagram or Facebook with your anecdote & team name and we'll publish it to the masses!

If you needed any convincing about whether to nip to Tescos for a meal deal or to eat here.

More early drama as a collision on Turn 2 between kart 104 & 23, sending 23 backwards into a tyre wall. The kart is recovered quickly and allowed to continue.

Black Flag for 104.

With all the excitement of qualifying, drone-flying and live-streaming, we almost forgot to post the first of our trendy social media graphics.

Here are the teams that started the race on pole.

As it stands, CI2 remain in first place, and their friends CI1 have caught up with them in second. Six Helmets Racing are up to third.

Some Random Bloke started on the pole in the SODIs and haven't looked back, with CSM Racing on their tail, and DNH Gurney's Gang in third.

It seems people are hungry after all of the excitement for race start.

Luckily our catering team have fired up the BBQ and the delectable fragrance of flame grilled cheeseburgers fills the pavilion garden.

Lunch is ready!

Cameron Das, driving a DMAX for Open Throttle, dives in for a fuel stop at the first possible opportunity.

That's going to leave them at the back of the grid, albeit with more fuel than everybody else.

Is that tactical, or was it an oversight?

CI2 lead the way after getting the best of a perfectly clean start into turn one, but find themselves under pressure from GDR Motorsport at the very beginning of this race.

Some Random Bloke get themselves into the lead ahead of CSM, and some early drama for the EKS All-stars, who receive an early black flag for using the wrong driver in qualifying.

Join us on Mark Zuckerberg's streaming platforms at approx 12:55 as we go live on the grid with Yousef.

Drivers, we'll be interviewing some of you on once you're seated in the karts.

One word answers are frowned upon.

We've been waiting to write that headline.

They've finished just ahead of CSM Racing and #RacingGrind in third.

Twenty minutes to go now!

Andrew Strike, last year's fastest lap holder, takes an early lead with 1:14.704 for CSM Racing.

However, after finishing that sentence, it's now Some Random Bloke in the lead with 1:14.595

Lots of chopping & changing in a very competitive DMAX quali, but it is CI2 who top the session by just one tenth of a second ahead of TRX Motorsport Pro, both teams improving on their practice laptimes significantly, getting into the mid 65 seconds.

They are joined by Luke Battersby's EKS All-stars, their final lap was enough to sneak them into third place.

Kuba Wozniak has set just 1:05:677 for CI2. That's going to take some beating.

Green flag for DMAX qualifying and we will wait and see if CI2 can continue their form from practice or if it'll be another challenger can steal the pole.

At the end of practice, CI2 were the fastest team with a lap time of 1:05.963, the only team to break the 65 second mark so far today.

In the SODIs, Some Random Bloke in kart 28 achieved the fastest lap, just ahead of CSM Racing.

TRX Motorsport Elite (kart 123) have a bizarre accident coming out of the fuel lane as a driverless kart crashes through the tyre barrier into the fence.

The kart is recovered quickly and heads to the mechanical bay to get the once over.

It looks okay to continue.

We've shut the fuel bay for the practice session.

That'll re-open ten minutes after race start.

CI Group have joined the party. Their team 'Two' (we're going to call them CI2 going forwards) finds themselves in the same position as last night's practice - top of the table, setting a fastest DMAX lap time of 1:05.963.

Some Random Bloke are leading the SODI times. It's their eighth consecutive 24 Hours race, and their best finish so far was second in 2021. They'll be in contention for the top spot this year, we think.

Speaking of commentators...

We'd like to introduce our trio of commentators for the weekend - Tom Dillon, Yousef Bin-Suhayl and Kieran McGinley,

They'll be keeping our audience informed trackside, and will also be going live on our social channels throughout the race.

According to our commentators, and Accuweather, there's a 50% chance of a rain shower at 1pm.

But what do they know?

Some panoramic shots of the pitlane briefing taken from our trusty DJI Mavic Pro 3 drone - wonderful piece of kit.

KBR (kart 121) have set a time of 1:06.112 early on in DMAX practice. Expect teams to get faster as the session goes on though - we still have plenty of rapid drivers patiently waiting to test their karts.

In the SODIs, Andrew Strike's CSM racing in kart 17 have set the pace with a lap time of 1:14.532.

We're now underway with 100-minutes of practice as teams get a feel for the track.

Remember, you can get live lap times from the 'Speedhive' app.

You can download that from the App Store here or the Google Play store here.

Some key times for everybody in the venue and following the race online:

10:00 - Practice begins

11:40 - Practice ends

11:50 - DMAX 10 minute qualifying

12:10 - SODI 10 minute qualifying

12:40 - All drivers to the grid

13:00 - Race start

13:15 - Lunch served

16:30 - Lunch service ends

18:30 - Dinner served

21:00 - DMAX Maintenance stop one (approx time)

22:00 - Evening curfew - emergency announcements only

23:00 - SODI Maintenance stop two (approx time)

SUNDAY 26th MAY

06:00 - DMAX Maintenance stop three (approx time)

08:00 - Commentary recommences

13:00 - Chequered flag

13:15 - Award ceremony

Legendary commentator Yousef aka Milky Cereal gathers the crowd together to ensure everybody's up to speed.

Starts with the classic, 'Good Morning Milton Keynes'. Lacklustre response. 'I said GOOD MORNING MILTON KEYNES'. The crowd goes wild.

Lots of teams have been out on track doing their customary track walk, talking strategy and refining that racing line.

We're serving breakfast upstairs in the pavilion from now until 11:30am.

Smells delicious.

We. Cannot. Wait.

Remember your SPF guys, it's going to be like this all day.

Good morning from sunny Milton Keynes to all our racers and spectators.

And good morning to everybody following us online.

FRIDAY 24th MAY

It's been a beautiful day of practice, and we're signing off until tomorrow morning.

Some serious lap times were recorded today - it's going to be a big race tomorrow.

We'll be back at 8am. Please remember to come and get your team headshots taken upstairs in the morning if you haven't already!

More tasty shots from our media team, this time on track.

CI Group Two (kart 101) are still in the lead (not that this counts for much aside from pride!) and their comrades in CI Group One (kart 115) are now in second place, having recorded a fastest lap time of 1:05.461.

They're going to be tricky to beat tomorrow...

It's gotten rather busy down in the paddock, as teams run in their karts. We estimate 70% of the drivers are already in attendance.

Good news for us - as we've already been able to take some cracking shots. Here's some of our favourite images from the pitlane.

So far its CI Group Team 2 displaying the fastest pace in DMAX, having set a time of 1:05.150. TRX Motorsport Pro are just behind them with 1:05.644 and Voltarol Racing in third with 1:05.788.

Chris Thompson's DNH are dominating in the SODI practices, occupying the top two spots in terms of best lap. TRX Motorsport Women have set the third fastest lap at the time of writing.

Omar Aswat has flown in from Qatar to race with Team Sixty Eight, last year's runners up.

Omar runs the popular K Tips YouTube channel, providing technical analysis on how to improve lap times on tracks all around the world.

His team for this year is going to be lightning quick - Philip Baboolal, pictured behind him, has won at this track countless times, and joins the Pughe family - Harrison, Tom & Jenson - as well as SuperChamps racer Billy Sira.

Ones to watch in the DMAX category!

Daytona Milton Keynes chief extraordinaire Ali Pringle huddles the track team ahead of guests arrival earlier to deliver some motivational words.

Tears were seen in some of the younger marshal's eyes.

Moving stuff.

Professional racing driver and YouTuber Cameron Das has joined up with Karlis Elmanis' Open Throttle team.

Some lightning quick racers in that team - including British GT racer Bobby Trundley, Luka Nik, Robert Keith and Liam Booker.

Guests have officially entered the building ahead of tonight's practice.

Teams are spinning the wheel to choose their karts for the next two days & setting up their trackside command centres.

We don't use our regular Clubspeed timing system for the 24 Hours - we use Orbits.

To get live lap times for this race, you'll need to download the 'Speedhive' app.

You can download that from the App Store here or the Google Play store here.

Missed out on racing this year? Come down to Daytona Milton Keynes and soak up the atmosphere.

The race starts at 1pm on Saturday and finishes at 1pm on Sunday - both of these would be ideal times if you wanted to come along and cheer.

Please be aware - our car park is completely full. You can find free parking on Deltic Avenue.

As a reminder, we're asking racers to DM us on Instagram & Facebook throughout the race and we'll be sharing their messages on this feed.

First thing we'd like to hear from you is - tell us about your most epic Daytona endurance memories over the years.

Sam Bird recalls racing at the 24 Hour race we hosted at Wembley in 2008, which he won:

A sneak peak at the silverware being competed for.

Winning teams will receive these gorgeous handmade silver Italian trophies.

And for the individuals in each team, an iconic Daytona Milton Keynes track-map trophy.

Plus, of course, going down in Daytona Motorsport folklore for an eternity.

Jim Graham co-founded Daytona with his brother, our current CEO Charles in 1990.

He's been involved in every single Daytona 24 Hours, starting at Daytona Wood Lane, our indoor track in West London.

When pressed on his most memorable moment, he said:

"The first 24 Hours we hosted at Daytona Milton Keynes was in October 2009, and it was a little bit chillier than the weather we have in May. Overnight, everybody wanted to stay warm in their Winnebago's and tents, so they had had heaters with them plugged into the venues electrical mains.  In the middle of the night, the fuse blew on the main electricity supply into the premises, leaving the entire track pitch black... twice. However, the live lap times were running on my laptop, which was running on a battery, so we never lost that! I should mention that that was the first... and last time we ever had that problem.

It's been incredible to watch the year-on-year improvement of this event - it surpasses itself every year - both in terms of quality of driving and atmosphere. It really is the best 24 hour race in the country." 

A youthful-looking Jim Graham presents awards to winning drivers alongside David Coulthard at Wembley, 2015

Our incredible team has been working round the clock throughout the last week to get our venue ready for this race.

Hundreds of combined hours of preparation go into delivering a world-class event of this scale.

Fun fact: we started preparations last June.

Our team really are superheroes!

The race for SODI champion seems to be a little more open than the DMAX class, with 20 teams in contention. We're expecting there to be some surprise packages on the podium this year!

CSM Racing, captained by last year’s fastest lap holder Andrew Strike, consists of three members of the CS7 Racing team that finished third last time round.

Chris Thompson’s DNH Racing regularly race at Daytona Motorsport and have submitted four teams in contention for a podium spot - DNH Gurney’s Gang, DNH Ickx’s Icons, DNH Miles-Shelby Squad and the DNH Kristensen Klub - in a nod to famous Le Mans winners.

TRX Motorsport have entered three teams including TRX Motorsport SODI, who will be hoping to do better than the seventh place they managed last year. They’ve also entered a women’s team, consisting of Jamie Chadwick Series drivers Keira Boylan, Lucie Shuckford and Emily Lloyd, as well as Kamile Macijauskaite and Holly Dibdin.

Some Random Bloke have raced in the last eight Daytona 24 Hours and have amassed three podium finishes, including 2^nd in 2021. With vast experience in the event, they’ll be hoping that 2024 is their year, where they experiment with a team of six for the first time.

Read more 

CSM Racing captain Andrew Strike collects his fastest lap trophy in 2023

We recently published an article speculating who might be victorious on Sunday afternoon.

In DMAX we have 27 teams in contention for the podium.  The winners of the last two outings, Cobra Racing, have rebranded as Apollo Racing and are returning for 2024 as strong favourites for the title again this year.

King Brothers Racing are giant contenders for the title, made up of Daytona endurance and SuperChamps veterans James King, Lee Schnitzler, Peter Stockwin, Paul Studd, Ashley Mayston-King and Sebastian Musicka – with over a hundred Daytona podiums between them.

Last year’s SODI champions, CI Group, have submitted two rapid teams to compete in DMAX - littered with Championship drivers who race here week-in-week-out.

Last year’s runners up, Young Guns Racing, have rebranded as Team Sixty Eight and recruited lightning fast drivers in Philip Baboolal, Billy Sira, and Qatari YouTuber Omar Aswat (@KTips).

Last year's champions Cobra Racing, rebranded to Apollo Racing for 2024.

We're hosting some last-minute practice sessions tonight at Daytona Milton Keynes, 5:30 arrival time.

We currently have 28 teams booked in (18 DMAX and 10 SODI).

These practice sessions serve teams an opportunity to get a feel for their kart, to make any last minute tactical tweaks, and to size up the competition.

There's still plenty of spaces left - call us on 033 033 278 70 and get your team booked in.

Something we think everybody is going to be super excited about...

Our kitchen staff, headed by smash burger icon Dan Byrne, have been working incredibly hard to prepare enough food for over 250 guests.

Here's the menu for the 24 Hour race.

PS - the homemade tartar sauce for the Fish & Chips supper is absolutely divine!

We're asking racers to DM us on Instagram & Facebook throughout the race and we'll be sharing their messages on this feed.

First thing we'd like to hear from you is - tell us about your most epic Daytona endurance memories over the years.

The sun is out, the karts are polished, and the burger patties are seasoned at Daytona Milton Keynes. We're raring to go!

Check back here over the next 48 hours for live race updates, photos and interviews.

Make sure you're following us on Instagram & Facebook  for even more media updates.