Kobayashi leads for Cadillac in final Rolex 24 practice

Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R led final practice for the 63rd annual Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The air was still cold but the sun was out over Daytona International Speedway for the first time since the Roar. In these conditions, Kobayashi set the quickest GTP time at 1m36.380s aboard his chrome silver Cadillac.

There was an early red flag when the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 stopped at the entrance to the International Horseshoe. Felix Rosenqvist was just getting settled when the car came to a halt with a mechanical problem.

Almost simultaneously, the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R of Tommy Milner stopped along the backstretch, while Porsche Penske Motorsport mechanics worked to fix an issue on the No. 7 Porsche 963. All three cars were able to return to practice without any further issues.

Second in GTP was the No. 6 Penske Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet (1m36.864s), while Robin Frins set the third-best time aboard the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 (1m37.027s).

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The No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07 led LMP2 once again, this time via Toby Sowery setting the fastest lap with a 1m38.392s.

Nicklas Nielsen was second quickest in class in the No.88 AF Corse car, followed by Antonio Felix da Costa in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition car.

Trackhouse by TF Sport's all-star team is beginning to show its strength in GTD PRO. Shane van Gisbergen took the No. 91 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R to the top of the board with a fast time of 1m47.998s.

The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 continued to demonstrate its speed as Jordan Pepper went second quickest, followed very closely by the No. 77 AO Racing "Rexy" Porsche 911 GT3 R of Alessio Picariello in third.

A surprise at the top of GTD was the No. 19 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Valentin Hasse-Clot's best time in the Aston cleared the best from James Calado (No. 021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3) by two hundreths of a second.

Spa 24 Hours winner Mattia Drudi was third in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin. The No. 13 AWA Corvette did not go out in this final session, and the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO from GTD PRO did not set a representative time.

The 63rd annual Rolex 24 At Daytona starts tomorrow at 1:40pm ET, with television coverage on NBC, USA and Peacock in the United States, and in most countries around the world on IMSA's official YouTube Channel and IMSA.TV.

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