Cadillac on top of Rolex 24 Thursday practices

Cadillac Racing #01 on top of both practices

The #01 Cadillac V-Series.R topped the time sheet in the morning and afternoon test sessions Thursday in preparation for the 62nd Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou bested the field-leading lap time set earlier in the session by teammate Scott Dixon on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn Daytona International Speedway course at 1:35.589 as the ambient temperature pushed 26,7°C with 80% humidity.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #01 Cadillac V-Series.R.

«It’s been a good day for us so far in the 01 car. » said Alex Palou. « I believe we were fastest this morning with Dixon in the car and (Sebastian Bourdais), and then this afternoon with Renger (van der Zande) and I. Pretty cool. A lot of learning. Every time you go out on track, it’s very different with conditions, traffic, and so on. So, yeah, just learning as much as possible from the traffic and also from the car, trying to get the most we can for the race. It’s going to be, obviously, a long race so we’re trying to maximize the performance of the car. Pit stop practice with a driver change is something I’m not really used to, so that’s been the biggest thing for me. »

The Cadillacs were fast in the cold last weekend. You guys qualified 1-2 and you’re quick again today in the heat. Are you confident you’re ready for whatever the race conditions that get thrown at you? « Yeah, absolutely. We don’t really know what other teams or manufacturers are doing. We know what we are doing. » said Palou. « The car feels really good, honestly. We’ve made a lot of progress from last week in what the drivers have said, (Scott) Dixon, and Renger (van der Zande). It’s a lot better than the test we had in December as well, so the team did amazing work. We’re confident, but then it’s a 24-hour race, so it’s all about keeping the car in one piece until the last two hours, then go for it. It’s going to be up to the drivers to take care of the 01 car. »

Pipo Derani set the fastest lap during night session which was second overall of Thursday practices after Jack Aitken did set the fourth fastest lap of both sessions with Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 in 1:35.788 (1:36.619 during practice 1) which is 0.199 seconds slower than Palou’s fastest lap.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

Jack Aitken, No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R: “Tricky conditions compared to the Roar last week just from it being warmer and ratcheting up the pace as well in terms of taking a bit more risk with the car and really dialing in on the settings we’ll have for the race. We have a couple more sessions to keep dialing in the car and everything is going to plan.”

Three Porsche 963 follow the two Cadillacs

Felipe Nasr and Gianmaria Bruni lifted up their respective teams’ Porsche 963 during the afternoon practice 2 ending third and fourth in Thursday combined practices.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #7 Penske Porsche 963

Felipe Nasr with Porsche 963 #7 fourth lap was the second fastest only 0.135 seconds off Palou’s Benchmark. A 0.773-second improvement from teammate Dane Cameron who was fifth with #7 Porsche 963.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. Proton Porsche Mustang Sampling #5 Porsche 963

During second practice, Gianmaria Bruni also improved Proton Porsche Mustang Sampling #5 Porsche 963’s fastest lap set by Neel Jani during practice 1 by 0.847 seconds, the third fastest lap of combined sessions.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #6 Penske Porsche 963

Mathieu Jaminet improved Kevin Estre's practice 1 lap time with Porsche 963 #6 in 1:35.830 (0.549 seconds faster than Estre) ending fifth of combined practices.

Both BMW M Hybrid V8 sixth and eighth

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #25 BMW M Hybrid V8.

Nick Yelloly was the fastest of BMW Works drivers today with a lap time of 1:35.967 (sixth overall) in BMW M Hybrid V8 #25. He was 0.828 seconds faster than teammate Connor De Philippi who was second overall during practice 1.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #85 JDC-L_Miller Motorsport Porsche 963

Phil Hanson with JDC-L_Miller Motorsport Porsche 963 #85 was seventh of both sessions with a lap time of 1:36.060, above the 1:36 mark but still within half a second from both sessions’ Benchmark.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #24 BMW M Hybrid V8.

Philip Eng was the fastest works driver of the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 with a best lap set during practice 3, 0.743 seconds slower than Palou’s Benchmark.

Both Acura’s close the GTP class

Both Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura’s were not able to lap faster than 1:36.404 (F. Albuquerque with #10 Acura), more than 0.815 seconds slower than Cadillac #01.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #10 ARX-06

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #40 ARX-06

Combined GTP results

Source: IMSA

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