The 75 Express Mercedes-AMG ran runner-up to the Paul Miller Racing BMW M6 of Neil Verhagen, Connor De Phillippi, Max Hesse, and Dan Harper by a mere 2.222s.
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Engel put the team in the box seat to win the class, having led with an hour and a half to go.
However, the decisive moment of the race came during the final pit stop sequence when the race-winning #1 BMW M6 undercut the #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and established a handy lead of more than 10 seconds. Despite conserving fuel, Harper held on to take the class win.
Winward Racing competed the podium in another Mercedes-AMG driven by Scott Noble, Jason Hart, Maxime Martin, and Luca Stolz.
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Overall, the race was won by Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, and Laurin Heinrich in a thrilling conclusion to the 24-hour contest.
Nasr clinched victory for the #7 Porsche 963 by just 1.569s over the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of New Zealander Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken, Frederik Vesti, and Connor Zilisch.
Nasr claimed his third straight Daytona 24 win after an epic battle in the final 10 minutes with Aitken, who couldn’t quite usurp the race leader.
Third overall and in the GTP class went to the #24 BMW M Team WRT entry of Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Robin Frijns, and Rene Rast.
Australia’s Matt Campbell finished fourth despite floor damage to the #6 Porsche 963, which curtailed its progress.
New Zealand’s Scott Dixon was ninth in the #60 Acura ARX-06 with Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun, and AJ Allmendinger.
In the LMP2 class, Nick Cassidy claimed third for Inter Europol Competition in the #343 Oreca 07 alongside Jakub Smiechowski, George Kolovos, and Nolan Siegel.
Cassidy’s compatriot Hunter McElrea finished 10th after a first lap crash took the #2 United Autosports entry out of contention.
In GTD, there were no Australians or New Zealanders on the podium. The win went to Winward Racing’s #57 Mercedes-AMG driven by R. Ward / P. Ellis / I. Dontje / L. Auer
Scott Andrews was the best of the trans-Tasman drivers in sixth in the #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG as the last cars on the lead lap in GTD.
Scott McLaughlin led GTD only for the #36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R to suffer a gearbox issue in the closing hours and retire.
Ryan Yardley in the #123 Muehlner Motorsports America Porsche 911 GT3 R wound up 15th in GTD after damage from a puncture put them 15 laps down.
Tom Sargent’s hopes of another Daytona 24 podium were dashed when his co-driver Adam Adelson hit an unsighted LMP2 car, causing irreparable damage to the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911. Adelson was taken to hospital for precautionary checks and escaped any serious injury.
The race was blighted by fog, with a quarter of the event being held under the control of the Safety Car during the night.
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