Daytona 24h: Derani fastest for Cadillac in night practice
#31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken, Tom Blomqvist
Driving the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R that is prepared by Action Express Racing, the Brazilian dropped the hammer for a flying lap of 1m35.708s around 12-turn, 3.56-mile road course at Daytona International Speedway.
The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963, which led the early part of the session thanks for Felipe Nasr, ended up 0.310s behind to finish runner-up.
Sebastien Bourdais made a late push and put the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, which is being prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing, in third at 0.401s behind.
Connor De Phillippi put the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 (BMW M Team RLL) in fourth, 0.612s off Derani’s time. The sister No. 24 BMW came across fifth, 0.624s back, courtesy of Phillipp Eng.
Crowdstike stakes claim in LMP2
Malthe Jakobsen vaulted the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 to a quick lap of 1m39.166s to claim the top spot in class.
The No. 2 United Autosports USA of Pato O’Ward ended up second at 0.306s behind. Christian Rasmussen, the 2023 Indy NXT champion, put the No. 18 entry for Era Motorsport in third at .477s off the top spot.
The only red flag of the session came out in the opening 15 minutes when the No. 74 Riley ORECA slowed to a stop in Turn 6, pausing the action for roughly 10 minutes. The No. 20 MDK by High Class Racing had a radical spin in Turn 6 with 34 minutes left in practice but managed to continue.
Corvette paces GTD Pro, Voorde puts MDK top in GTD
Earl Bamber wheeled the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R (Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports) to a flying lap of 1m46.770s to go fastest in the GTD Pro.
It was a 1-2 for the team, with the sister No. 3, which missed significant time in both the early practices, ending only 0.088s slower courtesy of Alexander Sims.
The No. 86 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) set the pace among sole GTD entries, with Larry Voorde hitting a 1m47.075s quick lap.
Danny Formal provided a boost to the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2, ending up second at 0.022s behind.