Bamber puts No. 31 Cadillac on top for second Rolex 24 practice session

Just before the hammer came down on the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R for a post-qualifying technical infringement, Earl Bamber salvaged some dignity for the team by setting the fastest lap in Thursday night's second practice session for the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona. 

Bamber led with a best lap of 1m35.914s set early in the 90-minute session. The Kiwi went 0.056s quicker than the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Julien Andlauer, who clocked in with a 1m35.970s.

Tom Blomqvist was third fastest in GTP with a 1m36.147s aboard the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06.

In LMP2, Antonio Felix da Costa (1m39.791s) went quickest in the polesitting No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA 07-Gibson, followed by AF Corse USA’s Nicklas Nielsen in second, and Dane Cameron for AO Racing in third.

Antonio García went quickest in GTD Pro in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R, as the two Millennium Yellow ‘Vettes were 1-2 in the session.

García set a 1m46.742s, vs a 1m46.832s from Nico Varrone in the No. 4 Corvette. James Calado set the third-fastest time aboard the No. 033 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

Danny Formal led GTD for the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (1m46.768s) – 0.3s clear of Conquest Racing’s Thierry Vermeulen in second, with Myers Riley Motorsports’ Felipe Fraga third.

Eduardo Barrichello and the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo brought out the only red flag of the session when the right-rear wheel came off the car as it rounded turn five, spinning across the circuit. Fortunately, the car suffered no further impacts.

At the very end of the session, the 13 Autosport Corvette in GTD suffered a fire while in pit lane, after Matt Bell set the fourth-fastest time in the No. 13 car.

Final practice for the Rolex 24 starts tomorrow morning at 11:05am.

RESULTS