Acura Meyer Shank sets the pace on opening day of IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona

Acura Meyer Shank Racing topped the first day of the November IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona International Speedway as the red and black No. 93 Acura ARX-06 led both Friday sessions.

Nick Yelloly set the fastest time in the morning session with a 1m35.725s, and teammate Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Acura set a 1m36.241s to go second-quickest, followed by Nico Pino, who was sampling the No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963. 

Pino set a 1m36.631s, putting him ahead of the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, the No. 7 and No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s, the No. 40 WTR Cadillac, the No. 24 and No. 25 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8s, and the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac.

The No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie was the first car to enter the pit lane when it opened in the morning, but it was also the first car to stop and bring out a red flag only four minutes into the session.

“We diagnosed an electrical issue,” said Ross Gunn immediately after the conclusion of the second session. “They’re in the process of fixing it.

“It seems to be the same issues reoccurring; I think we just need to dig a bit deeper, and then hopefully tomorrow, we’ll be able to have a full day. Not ideal, but also, it’s better to have these things happen in testing rather than on a race weekend or during a race.”

In the afternoon session, Renger van der Zande led the way with a 1m36.142s aboard the No. 93 Acura.

But Julien Andlauer in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 was only a millisecond behind van der Zande, setting a 1m36.143s during the second half of the latter three hour, 30 minute session.

Pino was third-fastest again in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Porsche, followed by Blomqvist in the No. 60 Acura, and reigning IMSA GTP Champion Matt Campbell in the No. 7 Penske Porsche in fifth.

The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac, No. 25 WRT BMW, No. 10 and No. 40 WTR Cadillacs, and the No. 24 WRT BMW completed the top ten this afternoon.

In LMP2, Charles Milesi set the fastest time for TDS Racing in the afternoon session. Milesi set a 1m39.176s in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA 07-Gibson.

That time put him 0.012s clear of Malthe Jakobsen in the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR car (1m39.176s).

In the morning session, Tom Dillmann was the fastest in the No. 43 inter Europol Competition car, setting a 1m39.224s, half a second up on Pietro Fittipaldi’s best time in the No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports car.

During the afternoon, Misha Goikhberg (No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen) hit the wall at turn five, and Jon Field (No. 37 Intersport Racing) went off at turn two, which brought out red flags for their respective incidents.

Testing resumes tomorrow with all cars, including GTD PRO and GTD cars, on track from 9:00 AM–12:30 PM, 1:30–6:00 PM, and then 7:00–9:00 PM in three sessions.