Pino gives JDC-Miller a turn at the front in sixth Roar session

JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Porsche 963 set the best time in the penultimate test session for the IMSA SportsCar Championship cars at the Roar Before The 24 on Sunday morning. The "Banana Boat," the only privately entered car in the GTP class, went half a tenth up on the field after a flyer from Nico Pino in the second half of the hour-long run.

Pino's 1m37.099s wasn’t enough to surpass the fastest time of the Roar by Felipe Nasr (1m36.327s), but it did vault him above the No. 6 Penske Porsche that was top at the time courtesy of an early Kevin Estre hot lap. It ultimately went unchallenged in the closing stages and placed the No. 85 team above both Porsche Penske Motorsport factory cars, which slotted in second and third, making it a 1-2-3 for the German brand.

The fastest cars from the other manufacturers were the two Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillacs, which took fourth and fifth spot on the screens, both cars within three tenths of the JDC 963.

The good news was that all 11 GTP cars (and all 60 cars in the field) set times. The Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie returned to the track following its extensive rear-end rebuild yesterday, which forced the team to sit out the fourth and fifth sessions. It was first out of the pit lane at the start of the session and completed 27 tours of the circuit.

In the other classes, the No. 2 United Autosports ORECA led the way in LMP2 with a 1m40.101s. The combined GTD ranks saw Gradient Racing’s Ford Mustang set the best lap, a 1m47.421s from Joey Hand. The best time from the GTD PRO category came from 75 Express’ Mercedes-AMG GT3, a 1m47.530s with Bronze-graded Kenny Habul at the wheel.

There were two red flags in the hour, one for the No. 65 Ford Mustang stopping on the apron of the banking, and another for the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari coming to a stop in the closing minutes, bringing the session to a premature end.

The final session of the Roar is set to get underway at 2:30pm ET. It is reserved for Bronze drivers only.

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