DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Cadillac rose to the highest of the timing screens as temperatures rose Saturday at Daytona Int’l Speedway for the second of three days of Roar Earlier than the Rolex 24 testing forward of subsequent weekend’s sixty fourth working of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Filipe Albuquerque and the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Sequence.R had been quickest Saturday afternoon within the fourth of seven scheduled check periods, previous to Saturday’s evening session. However Albuquerque’s lap time of 1 minute, 36.731 seconds (132.491 mph) within the afternoon warmth was nearly two-tenths off the 1:36.549 lap (132.741 mph) turned by Laurens Vanthoor within the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 within the day’s earlier motion.
“It feels good, and we had been P1 in that session,” stated Albuquerque. “We’re persevering with to evolve by way of the setup and the run plan that we now have. It exhibits that we’re doing the fitting issues with the automotive however nonetheless have loads to study.
“The observe is getting hotter and understanding how the automotive stability evolves is what we’re focusing on,” he added earlier than getting ready to go out for the one Roar session to be staged at evening. “The automotive all the time comes alive within the evening and it’s a dream automotive to drive. However the race by no means finishes within the evening, so I feel this (afternoon) was an important session.”
Cadillac might have moved out entrance Saturday afternoon, however Porsche nonetheless ranked 1-2-3 when occasions had been mixed after the primary 4 Roar periods. Felipe Nasr, who’s sharing the two-time defending Rolex 24 successful No. 7 Penske Porsche this yr with Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich, turned the quickest lap to this point of the weekend (1:36.327) in Session 1 on Friday.
The No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche within the fingers of Nico Pino, Tijmen van der Helm and Kaylen Frederick continues to impress, splitting the 2 manufacturing facility Porsche Penske Motorsport entries on the mixed session sheet.
A Porsche race automotive has claimed general victory within the Rolex 24 a report 20 occasions since 1968, with 4 extra general wins as an engine provider. Most not too long ago, Porsche has gained the final two years with the No. 7 automotive anchored by Nasr.
He and Dane Cameron additionally co-drove the No. 7 Porsche to the 2024 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class championship, a feat repeated by Porsche Penske Motorsports’ No. 6 automotive in 2025 with drivers Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet. This yr, Campbell is the Michelin Endurance Cup driver within the No. 6 with Vanthoor and Kevin Estre.
Acura and BMW are carefully vying with Cadillac for second place within the general pecking order regardless of a troubled couple days of testing for Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian’s No. 93 Acura ARX-06. The No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie additionally suffered a setback Saturday, requiring an engine change that saved it out of the afternoon session after Ross Gunn ran seventh quickest within the morning. The workforce was nonetheless engaged on it to start out evening apply.
Ben Hanley was the one driver to clock a sub-1:40 lap within the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class Saturday as occasions had been typically greater than a second slower than Friday. Hanley lapped the three.56-mile Daytona street course in 1:39.922 (128.260 mph) within the afternoon within the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07, besting the 1:40.159 achieved by Mathias Beche within the morning in TDS Racing’s No. 11 ORECA.
Myers Riley Motorsports’ No. 16 Ford Mustang GT3 led each GT lessons in each daytime periods Saturday because the quickest of 21 Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) rivals once more led all 15 entries within the Grand Touring Daytona Professional (GTD PRO) area. Felipe Fraga set the day’s GTD benchmark at 1:47.453 (119.270 mph) within the morning, whereas Romain Grosjean was quickest within the afternoon at 1:47.667 (119.033 mph).
Two-time IndyCar Sequence champion Will Energy confirmed he’s a fast examine in any atmosphere by setting the quickest time of the day in GTD PRO within the No. 75 75 Categorical Mercedes-AMG GT3 at 1:47.612 (119.094 mph). Tommy Milner (No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R) moved to the entrance Saturday afternoon at 1:47.810 (118.876 mph).
Energy, the 20-year IndyCar veteran, will make his first WeatherTech Championship begin within the upcoming Rolex 24. “It’s a enjoyable automotive to drive and the fellows which are the highest guys in these vehicles are extremely quick,” Energy stated. “It’s been nice to study from them.”
Two GT class rivals of notice encountered mechanical difficulties Saturday. The No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R missed a lot of the morning with a clutch downside, whereas AO Racing’s No. 77 “Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R sat out the afternoon whereas present process an engine change.
