Rolex 24: Acura beats Porsche in opening Daytona Roar practice
Colin Braun set the pace for Acura in the opening official practice session of the reborn GTP era of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Daytona.
Braun lapped the 3.56-mile road course, which hosts the 61st Rolex 24 Hours next weekend, in 1m35.635s to top the timesheet in the opening session of the three-day ‘Roar Before The 24’ event in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06.
Three of the four GTP manufacturers headed the times at some point in the thrice-interrupted 90-minute session, and Acura, Porsche and BMW were separated by only 0.173s.
Braun set the early pace at 1m37.694s, quickly topped by Philipp Eng’s #24 BMW Team RLL M Hybrid V8 on 1m37.460s and then 1m36.336s. Nick Yelloly then made it a BMW 1-2 in the sister #25 car, 0.12s down.
Felipe Nasr put the #7 Penske Porsche 963 on top with 1m35.776s, with Ricky Taylor lapping the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 within 0.027s of that for P2. Yelloly improved to 1m35.808s for third, 0.032s off the pace.
Braun reset the P1 bar with 1m35.635s with just over half an hour remaining, 0.141s ahead of Nasr, which stood as the fastest time of the session. Taylor was third, ahead of Yelloly, Matthieu Jaminet (in the #6 Porsche) and Eng.
Cadillac Racing kept its powder dry in this session, with the Chip Ganassi Racing V-LMDh cars over a second off the pace in seventh and eighth, Earl Bamber in the #02 ahead of Sebastien Bourdais in the #01, while the Action Express Racing version only managed four installation laps in Pipo Derani’s hands.
In LMP2, Alex Quinn set the pace in PR1/Mathiasen’s Oreca, 0.184s faster than Oliver Jarvis aboard the Era Motorsport entry. Scott McLaughlin quickly got to grips with Tower’s LMP2, the IndyCar star rising to third, four tenths off the class pace.
Cameron Shields’ Ligier topped the LMP3 class for Performance Tech Motorsports, ahead of Joao Barbosa’s Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier.
There was an early red flag for the #17 AWA Duqueine of Nicolas Varrone, which expired in a cloud of steam on its first attempted flying lap. That was followed by another stoppage when the #74 Riley Ligier of Felipe Fraga ground to a halt at Turn 7.
#44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3: John Potter, Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly, Nicki Thiim
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
Aston Martin dominates in GTD
Aston Martin set the pace in the GT Daytona ranks, with Andy Lally (Magnus Racing) heading Ross Gunn (Heart of Racing) and Owen Trinkler (TGM/TF Sport).
Jack Hawksworth was the best of the rest in the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F, ahead of the Racers Edge Acura NSX of Kyle Marcelli.
The third red flag of the session was caused by Jordan Taylor’s Corvette C8.R stopping at Turn 8 with a loose wheel.
There are four more practice sessions over the coming two days, before qualifying for the Rolex 24 Hours takes place on Sunday at 13:25 ET. Second practice today starts at 16:15 ET.
Roar Before the Daytona 24 Free Practice 1 results:
Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Delay | Laps |
1 | 60 | Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun H.Castroneves Simon Pagenaud |
Acura | 1'35.635 | 23 | |
2 | 7 | Matt Campbell Felipe Nasr M.Christensen |
Porsche | 1'35.776 | 0.141 | 24 |
3 | 10 | Ricky Taylor F.Albuquerque Louis Delétraz Brendon Hartley |
Acura | 1'35.803 | 0.168 | 28 |
4 | 25 | C.De Phillippi Nick Yelloly S.van der Linde Colton Herta |
BMW | 1'35.808 | 0.173 | 29 |
5 | 6 | Mathieu Jaminet Nick Tandy Dane Cameron |
Porsche | 1'35.907 | 0.272 | 20 |
6 | 24 | Philipp Eng Augusto Farfus Marco Wittmann Colton Herta |
BMW | 1'36.283 | 0.648 | 25 |
7 | 02 | Earl Bamber Alex Lynn R.Westbrook |
Cadillac | 1'36.684 | 1.049 | 17 |
8 | 01 | S.Bourdais R.van der Zande Scott Dixon |
Cadillac | 1'36.929 | 1.294 | 16 |
9 | 52 | Ben Keating Paul-Loup Chatin Alex Quinn Nicolas Lapierre |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'39.167 | 3.532 | 29 |
10 | 18 | Dwight Merriman Ryan Dalziel C.Rasmussen Oliver Jarvis |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'39.351 | 3.716 | 29 |
11 | 8 | John Farano Scott McLaughlin Josef Newgarden Kyffin Simpson |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'39.594 | 3.959 | 31 |
12 | 51 | Eric Lux D.Defrancesco Austin Cindric P.Fittipaldi |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'40.346 | 4.711 | 16 |
13 | 55 | Fred Poordad Francesco Pizzi James Allen Gianmaria Bruni |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'40.353 | 4.718 | 10 |
14 | 35 | François Heriau G.van der Garde Josh Pierson Job van Uitert |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'40.548 | 4.913 | 31 |
15 | 20 | Dennis Andersen Ed Jones Anders Fjordbach R.Marciello |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'40.720 | 5.085 | 33 |
16 | 11 | Steven Thomas Mikkel Jensen Scott Huffaker R.Van Kalmthout |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'40.814 | 5.179 | 33 |
17 | 88 | François Perrodo M.Vaxivière Julien Canal Nicklas Nielsen |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'40.923 | 5.288 | 29 |
18 | 04 | George Kurtz Ben Hanley Matt McMurry E.Gutiérrez |
ORECA/Gibson | 1'42.449 | 6.814 | 30 |
19 | 38 | John DeAngelis Chris Allen Connor Bloum Cameron Shields |
Ligier/Nissan | 1'43.486 | 7.851 | 31 |
20 | 33 | Lance Willsey João Barbosa Nico Pino Danny Soufi |
Ligier/Nissan | 1'43.811 | 8.176 | 31 |
21 | 17 | Anthony Mantella Wayne Boyd Nicolás Varrone Thomas Merrill |
Duqueine/Nissan | 1'43.853 | 8.218 | 16 |
22 | 13 | Orey Fidani Matthew Bell Lars Kern Moritz Kranz |
Duqueine/Nissan | 1'43.906 | 8.271 | 23 |
23 | 36 | Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves Dakota Dickerson Rasmus Lindh |
Ligier/Nissan | 1'44.019 | 8.384 | 28 |
24 | 87 | Yu Kanamaru A.Serravalle Nick Boulle James Vance |
Duqueine/Nissan | 1'44.527 | 8.892 | 27 |
25 | 85 | T.Bechtolsheimer T.van der Helm Luca Mars Mason Filippi |
Duqueine/Nissan | 1'45.029 | 9.394 | 33 |
26 | 44 | John Potter Andy Lally Spencer Pumpelly Nicki Thiim |
Aston Martin | 1'47.004 | 11.369 | 23 |
27 | 23 | Ross Gunn Alex Riberas David Pittard |
Aston Martin | 1'47.064 | 11.429 | 26 |
28 | 64 | Ted Giovanis Hugh Plumb Matt Plumb Owen Trinkler |
Aston Martin | 1'47.228 | 11.593 | 27 |
29 | 14 | Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat Mike Conway |
Lexus | 1'47.308 | 11.673 | 31 |
30 | 93 | Ashton Harrison Danny Formal Kyle Marcelli Ryan Briscoe |
Acura | 1'47.402 | 11.767 | 22 |
31 | 57 | Russell Ward Philip Ellis Indy Dontje Lucas Auer |
Mercedes | 1'47.436 | 11.801 | 27 |
32 | 75 | ? ? Fabian Schiller Axcil Jefferies |
Mercedes | 1'47.566 | 11.931 | 26 |
33 | 12 | Aaron Telitz F.Montecalvo Kyle Kirkwood Parker Thompson |
Lexus | 1'47.730 | 12.095 | 28 |
34 | 32 | Mike Skeen Mikaël Grenier Kenton Koch Maximilian Götz |
Mercedes | 1'47.733 | 12.098 | 27 |
35 | 21 | Simon Mann L.P.-Companc Miguel Molina F.Castellacci |
Ferrari | 1'47.788 | 12.153 | 27 |
36 | 023 | Onofrio Triarsi Charles Scardina Alessio Rovera Andrea Bertolini |
Ferrari | 1'47.852 | 12.217 | 14 |
37 | 3 | Antonio García Jordan Taylor Tommy Milner |
Chevrolet | 1'47.954 | 12.319 | 20 |
38 | 19 | R.Giammaria Franck Perera C.Schiavoni Rolf Ineichen |
Lamborghini | 1'47.988 | 12.353 | 29 |
39 | 95 | Bill Auberlen Chandler Hull Bruno Spengler J.M.Edwards |
BMW | 1'48.102 | 12.467 | 30 |
40 | 63 | A.Caldarelli Mirko Bortolotti Jordan Pepper Romain Grosjean |
Lamborghini | 1'48.117 | 12.482 | 29 |
41 | 27 | Roman De Angelis Marco Sørensen Ian James Darren Turner |
Aston Martin | 1'48.133 | 12.498 | 22 |
42 | 78 | M.Goikhberg Loris Spinelli Benjamín Hites Marco Mapelli |
Lamborghini | 1'48.387 | 12.752 | 26 |
43 | 43 | S.Álvarez Alex Vogel Guilherme Oliveira Danial Frost |
Ligier/Nissan | 1'48.673 | 13.038 | 19 |
44 | 66 | Sheena Monk Katherine Legge Mario Farnbacher Marc Miller |
Acura | 1'48.905 | 13.270 | 10 |
45 | 42 | Don Yount Jaden Conwright Kerong Li Alessio Deledda |
Lamborghini | 1'48.909 | 13.274 | 21 |
46 | 70 | Brendan Iribe F.Schandorff Ollie Millroy M.Kirchhöfer |
McLaren | 1'48.921 | 13.286 | 29 |
47 | 1 | Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Corey Lewis Maxime Martin |
BMW | 1'48.954 | 13.319 | 27 |
48 | 9 | Klaus Bachler Patrick Pilet Laurens Vanthoor |
Porsche | 1'49.080 | 13.445 | 25 |
49 | 96 | P.Gallagher Robby Foley Michael Dinan Jens Klingmann |
BMW | 1'49.229 | 13.594 | 29 |
50 | 74 | Gar Robinson Felipe Fraga Josh Burdon Glenn Van Berlo |
Ligier/Nissan | 1'49.285 | 13.650 | 3 |
51 | 83 | Rahel Frey Sarah Bovy Michelle Gatting Doriane Pin |
Lamborghini | 1'49.346 | 13.711 | 14 |
52 | 92 | David Brule Sr. Alec Udell Andrew Davis J.Bleekemolen |
Porsche | 1'49.851 | 14.216 | 22 |
53 | 53 | Mark Kvamme Trenton Estep Jan Magnussen Jason Hart |
Porsche | 1'50.210 | 14.575 | 27 |
54 | 80 | PJ Hyett Seb Priaulx Gunnar Jeannette Harry Tincknell |
Porsche | 1'50.282 | 14.647 | 28 |
55 | 79 | Cooper MacNeil D.Juncadella Jules Gounon Maro Engel |
Mercedes | 1'54.971 | 19.336 | 2 |
56 | 47 | Roberto Lacorte G.Sernagiotto Antonio Fuoco A.Balzan |
Ferrari | 1'55.919 | 20.284 | 4 |
57 | 91 | Alan Metni Kay van Berlo Jaxon Evans Julien Andlauer |
Porsche | 1'59.119 | 23.484 | 11 |
58 | 16 | Ryan Hardwick Jan Heylen Z.Robichon Dennis Olsen |
Porsche | - | - | 3 |
59 | 31 | Pipo Derani Alexander Sims Jack Aitken |
Cadillac | - | - | 4 |
60 | 62 | A.P.Guidi James Calado Daniel Serra Davide Rigon |
Ferrari | - | - | 4 |
61 | 77 | A.Brynjolfsson Trent Hindman Maxwell Root Kévin Estre |
Porsche | - | - | 5 |
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