IMSA: Daytona Tuesday test coverage

[8:00 p.m. ET]

RACER's Marshall Pruett interviews Chip Ganassi Racing Ford team manager Mike O'Gara, Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan, and Action Express Racing's Filipe Albuquerque about their day of IMSA testing at Daytona International Speedway.

[5:00 p.m. ET]

Check out a full photo gallery from today's test runs:

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[4:00 p.m. ET]

Scott Pruett is out and lapping in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP (ABOVE).

Katherine Legge has been impressive in the Deltawing DWC13 late in the afternoon (BELOW). The car has found threshold braking, rapid cornering and swift acceleration out of the corners, which bodes well for its return to the Rolex 24 in January.

[2:15 p.m. ET]

Ride with Ozz Negri as he pushes Michael Shank Racing's uprated 3.5-liter twin-turbo Honda V6-powered Ligier P2 prototype around Daytona International Speedway during IMSA's November test:

Shank said they've been impressed by the larger DP-spec motor, which is 700cc larger than the FIA P2 engine spec the team used through the 2015 season. "It's not a magic bullet; there's still a lot of tuning we need to do with it, but we've been impressed so far," he told RACER.

[12:15 p.m. ET]

The first practice session is done and unofficial reports have the pace being set somewhere around a 1m40.5sec, which is well shy of the 2015 Rolex 24 pole of 1m39.1sec.

Although Action Express Racing has not confirmed his presence, Scott Pruett is suited and in the No. 5 AXR Corvette DP pits (BELOW, middle, with Joao Barbosa and Filipe Albuquerque). Audi Sport P1 driver Albuquerque told RACER he enjoyed his first run in a DP, and that it "is softer than the Audi [R18], but it is very enjoyable and moves around a lot but it has a good feeling."

The second Ford GT (in bare carbon) joined the test later in the session with Olivier Pla behind the wheel (BELOW).

Audi Sport Customer Racing North America also joined the test with the new 2016 R8 LMS (BELOW), and Audi's Brad Kettler says they will cycle customers through the car during the test, and once it's over, Stevenson Motorsports will take the car home and wait for the arrival of its second car.

Ricky (BELOW) and Jordan Taylor have been confirmed for Corvette Racing's 24 Hours of Le Mans program.

[10:50 a.m. ET]

The TRG-AMR Aston Martin has Tim Pappas and Nicky Catsburg listed as drivers. 

[10:00 a.m. ET]

The first hour of running is done and most of the cars in attendance have turned laps. IMSA is not providing timing & scoring information for the test as the series is asking a number of teams to experiment with power settings and other Balance of Performance items that will be reviewed and used to finalize the BoP for January's Roar Before the 24 test.

Mazda's new gas-powered turbo 4-cylinder P2 is delightfully loud. Joey Hand (ABOVE) has been lapping in the Ford GT, and more of his teammates are on pit lane watching. Ryan Briscoe and Sebastien Bourdais are there, in shorts, while Dirk Muller is suited and ready. Along with Olivier Pla, Marino Franchitti, and Richard Westbrook, most of the known driving team is present.

Two pieces of Ford news: The Blue Oval is planning to formally announce its drivers next weekend in Homestead at the NASCAR season finale. RACER has also learned driver pairings for the two IMSA Ford GTs have yet to be set. It's not ready to be confirmed, but the Chip Ganassi Racing team is preparing to field two Ford EcoBoost DPs at the Rolex 24 in an effort to defend its overall win in January.

Of note elsewhere, Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud is with the Action Express Racing team in the No. 31 entry. Pagenaud (RIGHT, with Ford's Bourdais) and the No. 31's Dane Cameron were former teammates at Team Sahlen's for the Rolex 24 in 2013.

[8:35 a.m. ET]

Riley Technologies' Ben Keating has gone full Ricky Bobby with his Dodge Viper's sponsorship for the event...

[8:00 a.m. ET]

Plenty of talent is walking around Daytona International Speedway this week in search of opportunities in IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and more drivers--and cars--are being revealed for the first time in an official capacity.

The test presents a perfect opportunity for teams to sample new or revised cars, and to evaluate drivers for part- and full-time roles next year. Among the interesting characters in attendance, Indy Lights race winner Sean Rayhall is with the DeltaWing Race team alongside Katherine Legge and Andy Meyrick. The young Georgia native could earn the nod for the Rolex 24 at Daytona if all goes well, and provided he's signed, it would mark Rayhall's first factory prototype drive.

The Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT team has yet to confirm its drivers, but if the pilots standing in and around their garage—or wearing Ford shirts—can be used as an indicator, Joey Hand, Olivier Pla, Marino Franchitti, Dirk Muller, and Richard Westbrook were spotted in a matter of minutes.

With Ryan Briscoe's departure from Corvette Racing to join the Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT program, Corvette found itself in need of a replacement for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup events, and has Marcel Fassler and Mike Rockenfeller present to turn laps in the team's V8-powered C7.Rs. Ricky and Jordan Taylor were also seen this morning. The Corvette Racing team travelled north from Sebring late last week after conducting a private test, and will continue to log more miles with its expected 2016 lineup through Wednesday.

Action Express Racing will debut Audi Sport factory LMP1 driver Filipe Albuquerque this week in the No. 5 AXR Corvette DP. The sister No. 31 AXR Corvette DP will have Sunoco Challenge winner Jonny Adam in the car with Dane Cameron and Eric Curran.

The VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP has its new full-time driver lineup of Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens in place, and is testing a few drivers, including IndyCar/sports car ace Tristan Vautier and GT veteran Peter Dumbreck (RIGHT) for its NAEC seat.

Mazda has its new gas-powered 4-cylinder turbo engine ready to go, and among the familiar drivers returning to the team, new Indy Lights champion Spencer Pigot is at the test and could be back with SpeedSource for the Rolex 24.

PC stalwarts Starworks Motorsport were a late add to the test, and have IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth, PC star Renger van der Zande,

TRG-AMR is a welcome surprise at Daytona with its Aston Martin V12 Vantage. The California-based team is believed to be engaged in ongoing negotiations with IMSA to satisfy the manufacturer marketing agreement it would need to continue using the car in 2016.

Among the notable absences this week, defending GTLM champions Porsche North America chose to skip the test due to a scheduling conflict. "The test was announced after we previously scheduled other things, and we should have some teams taking delivery of new [GT Daytona] cars while the test is taking place," Porsche Motorsport North America boss Jens Walther told RACER.

Team Penske's Juan Montoya was rumored to be under consideration for a seat at the Rolex 24, but he says the only sports car activities on his calendar come later this week at Bahrain when he'll test Porsche's 919 Hybrid LMP1 machine. In a brief call on Monday, Montoya said he was looking forward to the test, but downplayed it importance, and said he was more focused on getting ready to chase another IndyCar championship with Team Penske next year.

Rolex 24 veterans Brendon Hartley (Porsche) and Sam Bird (G-Drive) are preoccupied with the WEC season finale, but both have been mentioned as options for the January 28-30 IMSA opener and could appear at the Jan 8-10 Roar Before The 24.

BMW's newest signing, 2014 GTLM champion Kuno Wittmer, is not driving this week and says he's already put in six days with the twin-turbo V8 M6 in private testing.