Power tops GTD PRO in third Roar session; Laurens Vanthoor leads GTP

Porsche Penske Motorsport finished 1-2 in Saturday’s first Roar Before The 24 test session at Daytona. The weather remained bright and sunny over Daytona International Speedway, though conditions were much warmer than the previous day.

Defending Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Laurens Vanthoor set the fastest time in GTP aboard the No. 6 Porsche 963, taking the top spot early with a 1m36.549s. That put him ahead of Laurin Heinrich in the No. 7 Porsche 963, setting a 1m36.968s that put him second.

Behind the two factory Porsches were the three Cadillac V-Series.Rs. Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque was third fastest in the No. 10 car (1m37.021s), ahead of Jordan Taylor in the No. 40 WTR Cadillac, and Frederik Vesti in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac.

Tom Blomqvist posted the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06’s best time of the weekend so far which put him up to sixth in the order. That was in contrast to some of the headaches for the No. 93 MSR Acura. Early on, Nick Yelloly pulled into the pits with a red hot left-rear brake caliper. The red and white Acura only completed five laps before it was pushed behind the wall and into the garage for further repairs.

Another car that was plagued with issues was the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, which pulled over and stopped at least three times during the 90-minute session. Eventually the car was taken back to its garage, and will undergo an engine change. Despite this, Ross Gunn was able to set the seventh-fastest time in GTP.

Rounding out the GTP running order were the two BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8s, the No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche, and the No. 93 MSR Acura.

For the second time in three sessions, TDS Racing was the fastest team in LMP2. Mathias Beche’s lap of 1m40.159s set in the black and green No. 11 ORECA 07-Gibson wasn’t as fast as co-driver Charles Milesi’s Friday benchmark, but it was enough to lead the session.

Behind him were Hunter McElrea in the white and blue No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA, and Jonny Edgar in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA, a pair of designated Silvers showing good speed early on.

But for three LMP2 teams, their testing plans were massively derailed when their cars failed technical inspection in the morning. Tower Motorsports (No. 8), Era Motorsport (No. 18), and Pratt Miller Motorsports (No. 73) each had their cars held for 60 minutes after all three were found to have unapproved sensors, in violation of Article 22.7 of the IMSA Sporting Regulations.

“IMSA requires all cars to run only the components, systems, and configurations that are explicitly approved for both the class and the individual homologations. Anything outside of that, regardless of function, is considered non-compliant,” the series said in a statement. “The penalty is being applied as a session-time loss to restore sporting equity and ensure all cars operate within the same technical framework.”

The No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO led GTD PRO once again. After Chaz Mostert led Session 2 yesterday afternoon, two-time IndyCar Series champion Will Power led the way with a 1m47.612s. Power headed up a Mercedes-AMG with the No. 48 Winward Racing team in second, courtesy of Maxime Martin. Sandy Mitchell in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 was third.

Yet again, the fastest GT time came from GTD, where Felipe Fraga in the Bud Moore-inspired No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 Evo led the class with his best time of 1m47.453s. Behind him was the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Indy Dontje in second, while young Jake Walker was third in the No. 66 Gradient Racing Ford.

DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R failed to set a time due to drivetrain issues.

Session 4 starts at 3:10pm ET following the conclusion of the first VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race.

RESULTS