Daytona 24 Hours: Braun leads Acura 1-2 in FP4 of Roar practice

Braun lapped the 3.56-mile road course, which hosts the 61^st Daytona 24 Hours next weekend, in 1m35.038s to top the timesheet in the quickfire hour-long fourth session of the three-day ‘Roar Before The 24’ event.

With rain threatening as a cold weather front sweeps across Florida, the action came thick and fast from the start of the session. Michael Christensen (#7 Penske Porsche 963) set the first representative time of 1m36.460s, before Alexander Sims pipped him by 0.023s in Action Express Racing’s Cadillac V-LMDh.

Philipp Eng briefly topped that with 1m35.811s in his BMW Team RLL M Hybrid V8, then Colin Braun reset the bar with 1m35.594s in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 – to ensure that all four GTP manufacturers had taken a turn at the head of the times.

Not to be outdone, Brendon Hartley’s then grabbed top spot with 1m35.156s in the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06. Nick Yelloly momentarily split the Acuras in the #25 BMW, before Braun regained the top spot with 1m35.038s.

The session ended with Braun clear of Hartley by 0.118s, with Eng, who suffered a quick spin in the closing moments, and Yelloly making it a BMW 3-4. Porsche was 5-6 with Christensen and Dane Cameron in the #6 car.

The Cadillacs were again slowest in the top class, with Renger van der Zande 1.262s off the pace in his #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-LMDh. Sims was eighth in the AXR variant, with Richard Westbrook rounding out the GTP class in the #02 CGR car.

#04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07: George Kurtz, Ben Hanley, Matt McMurry, Esteban Gutierrez (Photo by: Art Fleischmann)

Hanley fastest in LMP2

In LMP2, Raffaele Marciello led the way for High Class Racing for the first half of the session, before Ben Hanley’s Crowdstrike Racing by APR beat him by 0.875s with a time of 1m38.633s.

IndyCar star Rinus VeeKay jumped up to second for TDS Racing, ahead of Kyffin Simpson (Tower Motorsports), who set his time just as he received the mechanical warning flag, but he was still 0.684s down in third. Marciello dropped to fourth.

Nico Pino’s Ligier topped the LMP3 class for Sean Creech Motorsport, ahead of Gabby Chaves for Andretti Autosport.

#44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3: John Potter, Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly, Nicki Thiim (Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images)

Aston Martin continues GTD domination

Aston Martin set the pace in the GT Daytona ranks once again, with Nicki Thiim (Magnus Racing) going quickest at 1m47.655s, just ahead of Pro class leader Hugh Plumb (TGM/TF Sport).

Maximilian Goetz was best of the rest in the Team Korthoff Mercedes-AMG, ahead of  Jack Hawksworth in the Pro class Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F and David Pittard’s Heart of Racing Aston.

Final practice today is a two-hour night session, which starts at 6:30pm local time (11:30pm GMT) – when rain is expected. Qualifying for the Daytona 24 Hours takes place on Sunday at 1:25pm local time (6:25pm GMT).

IMSA Daytona 24 Hours - Roar before the 24 FP4 results

Cla	Driver	Class	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun Helio Castroneves Simon Pagenaud	GTP	Acura ARX-06	31	1'35.038
2	Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque Louis Deletraz Brendon Hartley	GTP	Acura ARX-06	29	1'35.156	0.118	0.118
3	Philipp Eng Augusto Farfus Marco Wittmann Colton Herta	GTP	BMW M Hybrid V8	19	1'35.372	0.334	0.216
4	Connor de Phillippi Nick Yelloly Sheldon Van Der Linde Colton Herta	GTP	BMW M Hybrid V8	24	1'35.458	0.420	0.086
5	Matt Campbell Felipe Nasr Michael Christensen	GTP	Porsche 963	32	1'36.072	1.034	0.614
6	Mathieu Jaminet Nick Tandy Dane Cameron	GTP	Porsche 963	25	1'36.151	1.113	0.079
7	Sébastien Bourdais Renger van der Zande Scott Dixon	GTP	Cadillac V-LMDh	26	1'36.223	1.185	0.072
8	Earl Bamber Alex Lynn Richard Westbrook	GTP	Cadillac V-LMDh	27	1'36.384	1.346	0.161
9	Pipo Derani Alexander Sims Jack Aitken	GTP	Cadillac V-LMDh	32	1'36.437	1.399	0.053
10	George Kurtz Ben Hanley Matt McMurry Esteban Gutierrez	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	32	1'38.633	3.595	2.196
11	Thomas Steven Mikkel Jensen Scott Huffaker Rinus van Kalmthout	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	32	1'39.303	4.265	0.670
12	John Farano Scott McLaughlin Josef Newgarden Kyffin Simpson	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	31	1'39.317	4.279	0.014
13	Dennis Andersen Ed Jones Anders Fjordbach Raffaele Marciello	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	30	1'39.508	4.470	0.191
14	François Perrodo Matthieu Vaxiviere Julien Canal Nicklas Nielsen	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	28	1'39.768	4.730	0.260
15	Fred Poordad Francesco Pizzi James Allen Giammaria Bruni	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	29	1'40.014	4.976	0.246
16	François Heriau Giedo van der Garde Josh Pierson Job Van Uitert	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	29	1'40.236	5.198	0.222
17	Eric Lux Devlin DeFrancesco Austin Cindric Pietro Fittipaldi	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	32	1'40.646	5.608	0.410
18	Ben Keating Paul-Loup Chatin Alex Quinn Nicolas Lapierre	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	29	1'40.888	5.850	0.242
19	Lance Willsey Joao Barbosa Nicolas Pino Danny Soufi	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	29	1'42.961	7.923	2.073
20	Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves Dakota Dickerson Rasmus Lindh	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	26	1'42.963	7.925	0.002
21	Gar Robinson Felipe Fraga Glenn van Berlo Josh Burdon	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	29	1'43.346	8.308	0.383
22	Yu Kanamaru James Vance Antonio Serravalle Nicholas Boulle	LMP3	Duqueine D08	26	1'43.428	8.390	0.082
23	Dwight Merriman Ryan Dalziel Christian Rasmussen Oliver Jarvis	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	15	1'43.693	8.655	0.265
24	Sebastian Alvarez Danial Frost Alex Vogel Guilherme de	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	25	1'43.947	8.909	0.254
25	Till Bechtolsheimer Tijmen van der Helm Luca Mars Mason Filippi	LMP3	Duqueine D08	31	1'44.043	9.005	0.096
26	Anthony Mantella Wayne Boyd Nico Varrone Thomas Merrill	LMP3	Duqueine D08	28	1'44.258	9.220	0.215
27	Orey Fidani Matthew Bell Lars Kern Moritz Kranz	LMP3	Duqueine D08	32	1'45.132	10.094	0.874
28	John DeAngelis Christopher Allen Cameron Shields Connor Bloum	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	27	1'45.910	10.872	0.778
29	John Potter Andy Lally Spencer Pumpelly Nicki Thiim	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	21	1'47.276	12.238	1.366
30	Ted Giovanis Hugh Plumb Matt Plumb Owen Trinkler	GTD PRO	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	28	1'47.309	12.271	0.033
31	Mike Skeen Mikael Grenier Kenton Koch Maximillian Goetz	GTD	Mercedes AMG GT3	25	1'47.315	12.277	0.006
32	Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat Mike Conway	GTD PRO	Lexus RC F GT3	30	1'47.446	12.408	0.131
33	Ross Gunn Alex Riberas David Pittard	GTD PRO	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	21	1'47.446	12.408	0.000
34	Aaron Telitz Frankie Montecalvo Kyle Kirkwood Parker Thompson	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	23	1'47.507	12.469	0.061
35	Russell Ward Philip Ellis Indy Dontje Lucas Auer	GTD	Mercedes AMG GT3	18	1'47.520	12.482	0.013
36	Fabian Schiller Axcil Jefferies	GTD	Mercedes AMG GT3	26	1'47.599	12.561	0.079
37	Sheena Monk Katherine Legge Mario Farnbacher Marc Miller	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	28	1'47.671	12.633	0.072
38	Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor Tommy Milner	GTD PRO	Corvette C8.R GTD	25	1'47.711	12.673	0.040
39	Andrea Caldarelli Mirko Bortolotti Jordan Lee Pepper Romain Grosjean	GTD PRO	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	31	1'47.737	12.699	0.026
40	Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado Daniel Serra Davide Rigon	GTD PRO	Ferrari 296 GT3	23	1'47.757	12.719	0.020
41	Ashton Harrison Danny Formal Kyle Marcelli Ryan Briscoe	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	25	1'47.785	12.747	0.028
42	Roman De Angelis Marco Sorensen Ian James Darren Turner	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	27	1'47.824	12.786	0.039
43	Brendan Iribe Frederik Schandorff Ollie Millroy Marvin Kirchhofer	GTD	McLaren 720S GT3	26	1'47.836	12.798	0.012
44	Rahel Frey Sarah Bovy Michelle Gatting Doriane Pin	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	27	1'47.928	12.890	0.092
45	Mikhail Goikhberg Loris Spinelli Benjamin Hites Marco Mapelli	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	27	1'47.985	12.947	0.057
46	Patrick Gallagher Robby Foley Michael Dinan Jens Klingmann	GTD	BMW M4 GT3	22	1'48.041	13.003	0.056
47	Raffaele Giammaria Frank Perera Claudio Schiavoni Rolf Ineichen	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	24	1'48.159	13.121	0.118
48	Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto Antonio Fuoco Alessandro Balzan	GTD	Ferrari 296 GT3	27	1'48.286	13.248	0.127
49	Bill Auberlen Chandler Hull Bruno Spengler John Edwards	GTD PRO	BMW M4 GT3	25	1'48.358	13.320	0.072
50	Mann Simon Luis Perez Companc Miguel Molina Francesco Castellacci	GTD	Ferrari 296 GT3	27	1'48.411	13.373	0.053
51	Klaus Bachler Patrick Pilet Laurens Vanthoor	GTD PRO	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	10	1'49.028	13.990	0.617
52	Onofrio Triarsi Charles Scardina Alessio Rovera Andrea Bertolini	GTD	Ferrari 296 GT3	23	1'49.088	14.050	0.060
53	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Corey Lewis Maxime Martin	GTD	BMW M4 GT3	6	1'49.124	14.086	0.036
54	Ryan Hardwick Jan Heylen Zacharie Robichon Dennis Olsen	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	26	1'49.188	14.150	0.064
55	Don Yount Jaden Conwright Kerong Li Alessio Deledda	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	27	1'49.286	14.248	0.098
56	Alan Brynjolfsson Trent Hindman Max Root Kevin Estre	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	23	1'49.384	14.346	0.098
57	Mark Kvamme Trenton Estep Jan Magnussen Jason Hart	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	17	1'49.429	14.391	0.045
58	Alan Metni Kay van Berlo Jaxon Evans Julien Andlauer	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	25	1'49.545	14.507	0.116
59	David Brule Alec Udell Andrew Davis Jeroen Bleekemolen	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	23	1'49.730	14.692	0.185
60	PJ Hyett Seb Priaulx Gunnar Jeannette Harry Tincknell	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	26	1'49.952	14.914	0.222
61	Cooper MacNeil Daniel Juncadella Jules Gounon Maro Engel	GTD PRO	Mercedes AMG GT3	0
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