On Friday afternoon, Action Express Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque successfully swept the two WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Roar sessions at Daytona International Speedway. In the two-hour afternoon session, Albuquerque’s best lap was 97.196 seconds (131.857 mph), seven-hundredths faster than his best lap in the morning.
Unlike the morning session, the Cadillac DPi-V.R.s didn’t completely dominate. Albuquerque’s time was only one-tenth of a second faster than CORE autosport’s Colin Braun in an ORECA 07-Gibson. Wayne Taylor Racing’s Renger van der Zande was third quickest, followed by Spirit of Daytona Racing’s Tristan Vautier. Jackie Chan DC Racing JOTA’s Ho-Pin Tung was fifth fastest.
The only car entered that did not turn a lap on Friday was Mazda Team Joest’s No. 77 Mazda RT24-P. That team had a significant setback in private testing recently when Tristan Nunez crashed in turn 6 and damaged the Riley tub underneath the Mazda bodywork. The tub has beenaftern swapped out for a new one, but the crash put the team significantly behind.
In GT Le Mans, Porsche GT Team’s Laurens Vanthoor was fastest with a lap of 104.065 seconds (123.154 mph). This lap was three-hundredths of a second faster than Richard Westbrook‘s best lap during the morning session.
Vanthoor’s lap was seven-hundredths of a second faster than teammate Nick Tandy in the No. 911 Porsche. Scott Dixon was another quarter of a second back in the No. 67 Ford. Sébastien Bourdais was fourth quickest, while Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia was fifth. The top five cars in GTLM were separated by a little over four-tenths of a second.
In GT Daytona, GRT Grasser Racing Team’s No. 11 Lamborghini was quickest once again. This time, it was former INDYCAR racer Franck Perera who was fastest with a lap of 107.175 seconds (119.580 mph). Perera’s lap was seven-hundredths of a second slower than what Rolf Ineichen turned in the morning.
Perera’s lap was six-hundredths of a second quicker than Porsche Junioren driver Matteo Cairoli in the No. 59 Porsche for Manthey Racing. Audi Sport factory racer Markus Winkelhock was third quickest in the Magnus Racing Audi, followed by Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers. Montaplast by Land-Motorsport’s Jeffrey Schmidt was fifth.
Results of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Roar Before the 24 Session No. 2
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams have a total of 225 minutes of on-track time scheduled for Saturday. The first on-track session is scheduled for 10:50 a.m. and will run for 90 minutes.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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