Madeline Stewart makes IMSA Pilot Challenge debut with top-10 at Daytona
- RACERS
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
Madeline Stewart and the CSM team were the protagonists of a highly competitive and hard-fought Daytona season opener in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, converting strong stints into a determined recovery drive to secure a top ten on her series debut.
Madeline Stewart made a highly encouraging debut in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge as the 2026 season opened with the traditional four-hour BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway, held in support of the Rolex 24. In one of the most competitive GS fields in recent years, featuring 35 GT4 entries and seven women, the New Zealander and her CSM teammates produced a determined recovery drive to claim ninth overall in the GS class, overcoming early contact and a long day of cautions to secure a top-ten result.
Stewart arrived at Daytona off the back of two seasons in Porsche Carrera Cup North America, where she had made steady progress into a consistent top-ten contender and established herself as part of the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver Program.
The season opener marked her first appearance in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, joining CSM team aboard the #2 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. After taking part in the Roar Before the 24 test, Stewart continued to build experience through official practice, before qualifying 24th in her first-ever Pilot Challenge qualifying session with a 1:55.479 lap in a tightly packed field.
Stewart took the start of the four-hour race and was immediately thrown into the intensity of a full GS grid charging into Turn 1. She settled into the opening laps just outside the top 20, running P21 at the end of lap one before picking up a position. Showing confidence early, she engaged in a battle with the #22 Shopify Racing Porsche, working her way past Trevor Hill to gain another spot.
However, only moments later, her race took its first major hit; entering Turn 1, Stewart was forced wide after contact from another car and was pushed off the racing line into the grass. She managed to keep the Porsche out of the barriers and rejoined safely, but the off-track moment cost significant ground in the tightly packed GS field.
Now under pressure from the #27 BMW, Stewart slipped down the order, and over the next several minutes struggled to find clean air as the field remained bunched. As she tried to regain rhythm in heavy traffic, she gradually fell to 29th as the race settled into its first long green-flag run.
Despite the setback, Stewart continued to circulate cleanly, focusing on consistency. When the first full-course caution of the race was called around 40 minutes in for debris on the banking, the #2 Porsche was among those called to pit lane. Stewart handed over to her teammate Scully, marking the end of a difficult but valuable debut stint that had already tested her resilience.
The race remained fragmented by yellows, and the CSM entry was soon dealt another blow when Scully was issued a drive-through penalty for a pit infringement. That dropped the #2 Porsche to the back of the GS field once more, erasing any immediate gains made under caution. As multiple FCY periods followed in quick succession, the race became one of survival and positioning rather than outright pace.
After further pit stops under yellow, Burkhard took over driving duties as the race moved into its second half. From deep in the order, the #2 CSM Porsche began its recovery. Burkhard immediately showed strong pace on restarts, carving through traffic to bring the car into the top 20 and then the top 15 as the race approached the halfway mark. A particularly strong restart saw the Porsche leap forward into P11, and soon after, into the top ten.
As cautions continued to reset the field, CSM executed clean pit stops; Burkhard repeatedly capitalised on restarts, avoiding incidents that caught out several rivals and moved forward. With just over an hour remaining, the #2 Porsche had firmly re-established itself as a top-ten contender.
The closing hour featured one last round of pit stops and a tense run to the chequered flag. Burkhard took over for the final stint and rejoined just outside the top ten after the final pit cycle. With fresher tyres, he resumed the attack: he first worked his way back inside the top ten, then set his sights higher, passing Dan Arrow to take seventh before the order reshuffled once again through pit strategy.
In the final 15 minutes, the #2 CSM Porsche was one of the fastest cars; Burkhard passed Foley to climb into ninth, securing the position as the race entered its final laps. He brought the car home P9 in the GS class, completing a remarkable recovery from the opening-stint setbacks.
For Madeline Stewart and CSM, the result marked a highly promising start to their Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign. After being forced off in the opening stages and losing nearly a full lap’s worth of track position in the most congested part of the race, the Kiwi refused to give up and, combined with clean pit work and strong closing stints, she secured a top-ten finish on her IMSA debut. Beyond the result, the weekend represented a major learning step for the New Zealander, who emerged with both valuable mileage and points.
"Really happy to get ninth in the 4H race at Daytona yesterday in a massive 51 car grid", Madeline commented. "The team did a fantastic job and a huge credit to my co-drivers, Morgan and Gordon for their awesome stints in the race. It was a really exciting race and there is still a lot to learn from my end but I’m so stoked to be here and be racing in Michelin Pilot Challenge this year with CSM. Thank you to the team and to everyone who has made this possible."
The second round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season is scheduled for 18-21 March at Sebring.
