In a thrilling start to the Daytona 24 Hours, Acura's Ricky Taylor surprised everyone by capturing the lead in the opening hour of the race. Taylor outpaced Cadillac's Sebastien Bourdais and Porsche's Felipe Nasr to take the top spot.

As the green flag waved, Pipo Derani in the #31 Action Express Cadillac led the pack, closely followed by Felipe Nasr's #7 Penske Porsche. However, Nasr quickly maneuvered his way into second place, overtaking Bourdais' Chip Ganassi-run Cadillac. Derani initially built a comfortable lead of over 1 second, but Bourdais made a strong comeback on lap three, reclaiming second place and keeping the Caddy duo in the top positions.

Bourdais relentlessly chased Derani, creating a thrilling battle as they ran nose-to-tail for much of the first hour. Behind them, Connor De Phillippi's #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 held onto fourth place, while Ricky Taylor's #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 followed closely behind.

Within the first 20 minutes, Nick Tandy made a move to secure fifth place in the second Penske Porsche, passing Taylor. However, a full-course caution was soon triggered around the half-hour mark due to a crash involving Misha Goikhberg's #78 Forte Racing GTD class Lamborghini Huracan at the Bus Stop chicane. Pit stops ensued, with Taylor emerging as the new leader, likely due to a shorter fuel fill.

When the race resumed after 47 minutes, Bourdais seized the opportunity to snatch second place from Derani. But their momentum was short-lived as the track turned yellow again following a three-car wreck involving LMP2 cars and a collision between Mike Conway's GTD class Vasser Sullivan Lexus and another LMP2 car.

At the one-hour mark, Taylor maintained his lead, ahead of Bourdais, Nasr, Derani, and Louis Deletraz with the #40 WTRA Acura. In the LMP2 class, George Kurtz of #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR secured the lead, while Nick Boulle's #52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen initially led but later handed over to Pietro Fittipaldi after the pit stops.

In the GTD Pro class, Ben Barnicoat of Lexus led the way in the #14 RC F, with Daniel Serra in the #62 Risi Ferrari 296 Pro class entry close behind. However, disaster struck for Lexus as Mike Conway collided with an LMP2 car, forcing him out of the race with significant radiator damage.

Currently, Aaron Telitz leads the pro-am class in the #12 Lexus, followed by Andrea Caldarelli in the Iron Lynx Lamborghini, Oliver Jarvis in the Pfaff McLaren, and Antonio Garcia in the Corvette.

The Daytona 24 Hours has already been filled with excitement, crashes, and intense competition, promising an action-packed race ahead. Stay tuned for more updates as the race unfolds.