Rolex 24: Ganassi Cadillac leads very close first practice

Van der Zande, who won the last two Rolex 24 Hours in Wayne Taylor Racing’s Cadillac, lapped the 3.56-mile road course in 1min34.649sec to shade Mike Conway’s best effort in the similar DPi-V.R of Action Express Racing by just 0.082sec.

Third was Harry Tincknell in the Mazda RT24-P ahead of Ricky Taylor of WTR which this year runs one of the Acura ARX-05s.

JDC Miller MotorSports’ Cadillac was fifth fastest, 0.3sec off top spot in the hands of Loic Duval, while Simon Pagenaud was sixth in the second Action Express Cadillac, just under half a second behind P1, although the 2016 IndyCar champion appeared to suffer a power outage during his spell behind the wheel.

The 2019 IMSA champion Dane Cameron was seventh in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura.

Nicolas Lapierre was predictably fast in the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca to head the LMP2 field ahead of Ben Hanley in one of DragonSpeed’s two entries. Racing Team Nederland claimed third thanks to Job van Uitert.

In LMP3, new to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this year, Jeroen Bleekemolen in Riley Motorsports’ Ligier was 0.45sec quicker than his nearest rival, Colin Braun in the similar CORE autosport machine, while late signing Kenton Koch was third for Muehlner Motorsports in the #6 Duqueine-Nissan.

Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia, 0.3sec apart, put Corvette Racing 1-2 in GT Le Mans, the team stalwarts having not been part of the 100-minute qualifying race last Sunday.

Jules Gounon was third in the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488, who in turn was 0.2sec ahead of Richard Lietz in the new WeatherTech Racing Proton Porsche 911 RSR. The faster of the two BMW M8s, Bruno Spengler’s #25 entry, was 1.2sec off Milner’s Corvette.

Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 steered by Billy Johnson emerged top of the GT Daytona class, mere hundredths ahead of Earl Bamber in the Team Hardpoint EBM Porsche 911 GT3 R, and the similar Pfaff Motorsports 911 of Matt Campbell.

Fourth was Andy Lally in the Magnus Archangel Acura NSX in front of Jack Hawksworth (Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F) and Albert Costa (Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracan).

The other Grasser Lambo caused one of two red flags in the session when it ground to a halt on track, while Cody Ware in the RWR Eurasia LMP2 Oreca caused the other when it slapped a wall.

Second practice commences at 3.20pm local (Eastern) time.

Practice results:

Cla	Num	Driver	Class	Chassis	Time	Gap
1	01	Renger van der Zande Kevin Magnussen Scott Dixon	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'34.649
2	31	Felipe Nasr Mike Conway Pipo Derani Chase Elliott	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'34.731	0.082
3	55	Oliver Jarvis Harry Tincknell Jonathan Bomarito	DPi	Mazda DPi	1'34.786	0.137
4	10	Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque Alexander Rossi Helio Castroneves	DPi	Acura DPi	1'34.821	0.172
5	5	Tristan Vautier Loic Duval Sébastien Bourdais	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'34.963	0.314
6	48	Jimmie Johnson Kamui Kobayashi Simon Pagenaud Mike Rockenfeller	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'35.134	0.485
7	60	Dane Cameron Olivier Pla Juan Pablo Montoya A.J. Allmendinger	DPi	Acura DPi	1'35.959	1.310
8	52	Ben Keating Mikkel Jensen Scott Huffaker Nicolas Lapierre	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'36.153	1.504
9	81	Rob Hodes Garett Grist Rinus van Kalmthout Ben Hanley	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'36.403	1.754
10	29	Frits van Eerd Giedo van der Garde Job Van Uitert Charles Milesi	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'36.446	1.797
11	47	Roberto Lacorte Antonio Fuoco Andrea Belicchi Giorgio Sernagiotto	LMP2	Dallara LMP2	1'36.758	2.109
12	20	Dennis Andersen Ferdinand Habsburg Anders Fjordbach Robert Kubica	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'36.924	2.275
13	8	John Farano Gabriel Aubry Timothé Buret Matthieu Vaxiviere	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'36.966	2.317
14	18	Dwight Merriman Kyle Tilley Ryan Dalziel Paul-Loup Chatin	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'37.084	2.435
15	82	Eric Lux Devlin DeFrancesco Fabian Schiller Christopher Mies	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'37.339	2.690
16	11	Thomas Steven Tristan Nunez Thomas Merrill Matthew Bell	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'38.217	3.568
17	51	Cody Ware Salih Yoluc Austin Dillon Sven Muller	LMP2	Ligier LMP2	1'40.043	5.394
18	91	Jim Cox Dylan Murry Austin McCusker Jeroen Bleekemolen	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	1'42.416	7.767
19	4	Tommy Milner Nick Tandy Alexander Sims	GTLM	Corvette C8.R	1'42.766	8.117
20	54	Jon Bennett George Kurtz Colin Braun Matt McMurry	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	1'42.855	8.206
21	6	Moritz Kranz Hoerr Laurents Kenton Koch Stevan McAleer	LMP3	Duqueine D08	1'42.879	8.230
22	7	Mark Kvamme Ryan Norman Gabby Chaves Charles Finelli	LMP3	Duqueine D08	1'42.946	8.297
23	3	Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor Nick Catsburg	GTLM	Corvette C8.R	1'43.062	8.413
24	62	James Calado Alessandro Pier Guidi Jules Gounon Davide Rigon	GTLM	Ferrari 488 GTE	1'43.196	8.547
25	74	Gar Robinson Spencer Pigot Scott Andrews Oliver Askew	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	1'43.348	8.699
26	79	Cooper MacNeil Kevin Estre Richard Lietz Gianmaria Bruni	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	1'43.400	8.751
27	38	Rasmus Lindh Cameron Cassels Mateo Llarena Ayrton Ori	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	1'43.472	8.823
28	33	Lance Willsey Joao Barbosa Wayne Boyd Yann Clairay	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	1'43.493	8.844
29	25	Connor de Phillippi Philipp Eng Timo Glock Bruno Spengler	GTLM	BMW M8 GTE	1'43.963	9.314
30	24	John Edwards Jesse Krohn Augusto Farfus Marco Wittmann	GTLM	BMW M8 GTE	1'44.206	9.557
31	28	Daniel Morad Michael de Quesada Billy Johnson Maximilian Buhk	GTD	Mercedes-AMG GT3	1'45.822	11.173
32	88	Rob Ferriol Earl Bamber Katherine Legge Christina Nielsen	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1'45.864	11.215
33	9	Zacharie Robichon Laurens Vanthoor Lars Kern Matt Campbell	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1'45.882	11.233
34	44	John Potter Andy Lally Spencer Pumpelly Mario Farnbacher	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	1'46.060	11.411
35	14	Aaron Telitz Oliver Gavin Kyle Kirkwood Jack Hawksworth	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	1'46.093	11.444
36	19	Mikhail Goikhberg Franck Perera Albert Costa Tim Zimmermann	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	1'46.109	11.460
37	16	Ryan Hardwick Patrick Long Jan Heylen Klaus Bachler	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1'46.148	11.499
38	75	Kenny Habul Raffaele Marciello Mikael Grenier Luca Stolz	GTD	Mercedes-AMG GT3	1'46.152	11.503
39	57	Russell Ward Philip Ellis Indy Dontje Maro Engel	GTD	Mercedes-AMG GT3	1'46.215	11.566
40	96	Bill Auberlen Robby Foley Aidan Read Colton Herta	GTD	BMW M6 GT3	1'46.284	11.635
41	63	Ed Jones Bret Curtis Ryan Briscoe Marcos Gomes	GTD	Ferrari 488 GT3	1'46.292	11.643
42	12	Robert Megennis Zach Veach Townsend Bell Frankie Montecalvo	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	1'46.321	11.672
43	111	Rolf Ineichen Mirko Bortolotti Steijn Schothorst Marco Mapelli	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	1'46.380	11.731
44	21	Simon Mann Nicklas Nielsen Daniel Serra Matteo Cressoni	GTD	Ferrari 488 GT3	1'46.829	12.180
45	23	Ian James Roman De Angelis Darren Turner Ross Gunn	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	1'46.854	12.205
46	1	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Corey Lewis Andrea Caldarelli	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	1'46.900	12.251
47	97	Maxwell Root Charles Eastwood Ben Keating Richard Westbrook	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	1'46.939	12.290
48	64	Ted Giovanis Owen Trinkler Hugh Plumb Matt Plumb	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1'47.063	12.414
49	42	Alan Metni Andrew Davis J.R. Hildebrand Don Yount	GTD	Audi R8 LMS GT3	1'47.750	13.101
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