Ricky Taylor leads Roar before the Rolex 24 practice under the lights at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — Wayne Taylor Racing and Acura continued to set the pace in the Roar before the Rolex 24 practice sessions Saturday as Ricky Taylor topped a two-hour night session at Daytona International Speedway.

The circuit of 1 minute, 34.592 seconds was the quickest of 35 laps by the No. 10 Acura around the 12-turn, 3.56-mile road course. Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon ranked second (1:34.611) in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac, followed by Mike Conway (1:34.717 in the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac).

The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura (Helio Castroneves, 1:34.799) and No. 48 Ally Cadillac (Jose Maria Lopez, 1:34.897) rounded out the top five.

SATURDAY NIGHT PRACTICE: Speeds l Speeds by class l Speeds by driver l Fastest lap sequence l Combined results

HOW AND WHEN TO WATCH THE ROLEX 24: Schedule, TV info, start times, entry lists, more

The No. 10 turned the fastest lap despite sustaining damage from contact with a GT car, according to an Acura representative. Taylor set the fastest time on the car’s 31st lap of the session.

Welcome to the first 𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙋𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙄𝘾𝙀 of 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 😈 #IMSA / #Roar24 pic.twitter.com/YEJ8pY7Lwk

— #IMSA (@IMSA) January 23, 2022

Filipe Albuquerque, Taylor’s WTR teammate, already had led Saturday morning’s first practice.

In the first two sessions Friday to prepare for the 60th Rolex 24 at Daytona, Ricky Taylor led the opening practice, and Tom Blomqvist took the Meyer Shank Racing to the top of the speed chart in the afternoon.

WTR suffered a setback Saturday after Motul 100 qualifying as Albuquerque’s second-fastest lap was disallowed because IMSA officials failed its rear wing in postqualifying inspection.

Cadillac will have the top four starters in Sunday’s sprint race with the No. 5 of Tristan Vautier leading the field. There will be a 20-minute warmup Sunday morning at Daytona before the Motul 100 at 2:05 p.m. to set the field for the Rolex 24.

The 100-minute qualifying race will be streamed on Peacock.

Ricky Taylor leads Roar before the Rolex 24 practice under the lights at Daytona originally appeared on NBCSports.com