Rolex 24: Acura beats Porsche in opening Daytona Roar practice

Braun lapped the 3.56-mile road course, which hosts the 61^st Rolex 24 Hours next weekend, in 1m35.635s to top the timesheet in the opening session of the three-day ‘Roar Before The 24’ event in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06.

Three of the four GTP manufacturers headed the times at some point in the thrice-interrupted 90-minute session, and Acura, Porsche and BMW were separated by only 0.173s.

Braun set the early pace at 1m37.694s, quickly topped by Philipp Eng’s #24 BMW Team RLL M Hybrid V8 on 1m37.460s and then 1m36.336s. Nick Yelloly then made it a BMW 1-2 in the sister #25 car, 0.12s down.

Felipe Nasr put the #7 Penske Porsche 963 on top with 1m35.776s, with Ricky Taylor lapping the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 within 0.027s of that for P2. Yelloly improved to 1m35.808s for third, 0.032s off the pace.

Braun reset the P1 bar with 1m35.635s with just over half an hour remaining, 0.141s ahead of Nasr, which stood as the fastest time of the session. Taylor was third, ahead of Yelloly, Matthieu Jaminet (in the #6 Porsche) and Eng.

Cadillac Racing kept its powder dry in this session, with the Chip Ganassi Racing V-LMDh cars over a second off the pace in seventh and eighth, Earl Bamber in the #02 ahead of Sebastien Bourdais in the #01, while the Action Express Racing version only managed four installation laps in Pipo Derani’s hands.

In LMP2, Alex Quinn set the pace in PR1/Mathiasen’s Oreca, 0.184s faster than Oliver Jarvis aboard the Era Motorsport entry. Scott McLaughlin quickly got to grips with Tower’s LMP2, the IndyCar star rising to third, four tenths off the class pace.

Cameron Shields’ Ligier topped the LMP3 class for Performance Tech Motorsports, ahead of Joao Barbosa’s Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier.

There was an early red flag for the #17 AWA Duqueine of Nicolas Varrone, which expired in a cloud of steam on its first attempted flying lap. That was followed by another stoppage when the #74 Riley Ligier of Felipe Fraga ground to a halt at Turn 7.

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

Aston Martin dominates in GTD

Aston Martin set the pace in the GT Daytona ranks, with Andy Lally (Magnus Racing) heading Ross Gunn (Heart of Racing) and Owen Trinkler (TGM/TF Sport).

Jack Hawksworth was the best of the rest in the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F, ahead of the Racers Edge Acura NSX of Kyle Marcelli.

The third red flag of the session was caused by Jordan Taylor’s Corvette C8.R stopping at Turn 8 with a loose wheel.

There are four more practice sessions over the coming two days, before qualifying for the Rolex 24 Hours takes place on Sunday at 13:25 ET. Second practice today starts at 16:15 ET.

Roar Before the Daytona 24 Free Practice 1 results:

Cla	Nº	Driver	Car / Engine	Time	Delay	Laps
1	60	Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun H.Castroneves Simon Pagenaud	Acura	1'35.635		23
2	7	Matt Campbell Felipe Nasr M.Christensen	Porsche	1'35.776	0.141	24
3	10	Ricky Taylor F.Albuquerque Louis Delétraz Brendon Hartley	Acura	1'35.803	0.168	28
4	25	C.De Phillippi Nick Yelloly S.van der Linde Colton Herta	BMW	1'35.808	0.173	29
5	6	Mathieu Jaminet Nick Tandy Dane Cameron	Porsche	1'35.907	0.272	20
6	24	Philipp Eng Augusto Farfus Marco Wittmann Colton Herta	BMW	1'36.283	0.648	25
7	02	Earl Bamber Alex Lynn R.Westbrook	Cadillac	1'36.684	1.049	17
8	01	S.Bourdais R.van der Zande Scott Dixon	Cadillac	1'36.929	1.294	16
9	52	Ben Keating Paul-Loup Chatin Alex Quinn Nicolas Lapierre	ORECA/Gibson	1'39.167	3.532	29
10	18	Dwight Merriman Ryan Dalziel C.Rasmussen Oliver Jarvis	ORECA/Gibson	1'39.351	3.716	29
11	8	John Farano Scott McLaughlin Josef Newgarden Kyffin Simpson	ORECA/Gibson	1'39.594	3.959	31
12	51	Eric Lux D.Defrancesco Austin Cindric P.Fittipaldi	ORECA/Gibson	1'40.346	4.711	16
13	55	Fred Poordad Francesco Pizzi James Allen Gianmaria Bruni	ORECA/Gibson	1'40.353	4.718	10
14	35	François Heriau G.van der Garde Josh Pierson Job van Uitert	ORECA/Gibson	1'40.548	4.913	31
15	20	Dennis Andersen Ed Jones Anders Fjordbach R.Marciello	ORECA/Gibson	1'40.720	5.085	33
16	11	Steven Thomas Mikkel Jensen Scott Huffaker R.Van Kalmthout	ORECA/Gibson	1'40.814	5.179	33
17	88	François Perrodo M.Vaxivière Julien Canal Nicklas Nielsen	ORECA/Gibson	1'40.923	5.288	29
18	04	George Kurtz Ben Hanley Matt McMurry E.Gutiérrez	ORECA/Gibson	1'42.449	6.814	30
19	38	John DeAngelis Chris Allen Connor Bloum Cameron Shields	Ligier/Nissan	1'43.486	7.851	31
20	33	Lance Willsey João Barbosa Nico Pino Danny Soufi	Ligier/Nissan	1'43.811	8.176	31
21	17	Anthony Mantella Wayne Boyd Nicolás Varrone Thomas Merrill	Duqueine/Nissan	1'43.853	8.218	16
22	13	Orey Fidani Matthew Bell Lars Kern Moritz Kranz	Duqueine/Nissan	1'43.906	8.271	23
23	36	Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves Dakota Dickerson Rasmus Lindh	Ligier/Nissan	1'44.019	8.384	28
24	87	Yu Kanamaru A.Serravalle Nick Boulle James Vance	Duqueine/Nissan	1'44.527	8.892	27
25	85	T.Bechtolsheimer T.van der Helm Luca Mars Mason Filippi	Duqueine/Nissan	1'45.029	9.394	33
26	44	John Potter Andy Lally Spencer Pumpelly Nicki Thiim	Aston Martin	1'47.004	11.369	23
27	23	Ross Gunn Alex Riberas David Pittard	Aston Martin	1'47.064	11.429	26
28	64	Ted Giovanis Hugh Plumb Matt Plumb Owen Trinkler	Aston Martin	1'47.228	11.593	27
29	14	Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat Mike Conway	Lexus	1'47.308	11.673	31
30	93	Ashton Harrison Danny Formal Kyle Marcelli Ryan Briscoe	Acura	1'47.402	11.767	22
31	57	Russell Ward Philip Ellis Indy Dontje Lucas Auer	Mercedes	1'47.436	11.801	27
32	75	? ? Fabian Schiller Axcil Jefferies	Mercedes	1'47.566	11.931	26
33	12	Aaron Telitz F.Montecalvo Kyle Kirkwood Parker Thompson	Lexus	1'47.730	12.095	28
34	32	Mike Skeen Mikaël Grenier Kenton Koch Maximilian Götz	Mercedes	1'47.733	12.098	27
35	21	Simon Mann L.P.-Companc Miguel Molina F.Castellacci	Ferrari	1'47.788	12.153	27
36	023	Onofrio Triarsi Charles Scardina Alessio Rovera Andrea Bertolini	Ferrari	1'47.852	12.217	14
37	3	Antonio García Jordan Taylor Tommy Milner	Chevrolet	1'47.954	12.319	20
38	19	R.Giammaria Franck Perera C.Schiavoni Rolf Ineichen	Lamborghini	1'47.988	12.353	29
39	95	Bill Auberlen Chandler Hull Bruno Spengler J.M.Edwards	BMW	1'48.102	12.467	30
40	63	A.Caldarelli Mirko Bortolotti Jordan Pepper Romain Grosjean	Lamborghini	1'48.117	12.482	29
41	27	Roman De Angelis Marco Sørensen Ian James Darren Turner	Aston Martin	1'48.133	12.498	22
42	78	M.Goikhberg Loris Spinelli Benjamín Hites Marco Mapelli	Lamborghini	1'48.387	12.752	26
43	43	S.Álvarez Alex Vogel Guilherme Oliveira Danial Frost	Ligier/Nissan	1'48.673	13.038	19
44	66	Sheena Monk Katherine Legge Mario Farnbacher Marc Miller	Acura	1'48.905	13.270	10
45	42	Don Yount Jaden Conwright Kerong Li Alessio Deledda	Lamborghini	1'48.909	13.274	21
46	70	Brendan Iribe F.Schandorff Ollie Millroy M.Kirchhöfer	McLaren	1'48.921	13.286	29
47	1	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Corey Lewis Maxime Martin	BMW	1'48.954	13.319	27
48	9	Klaus Bachler Patrick Pilet Laurens Vanthoor	Porsche	1'49.080	13.445	25
49	96	P.Gallagher Robby Foley Michael Dinan Jens Klingmann	BMW	1'49.229	13.594	29
50	74	Gar Robinson Felipe Fraga Josh Burdon Glenn Van Berlo	Ligier/Nissan	1'49.285	13.650	3
51	83	Rahel Frey Sarah Bovy Michelle Gatting Doriane Pin	Lamborghini	1'49.346	13.711	14
52	92	David Brule Sr. Alec Udell Andrew Davis J.Bleekemolen	Porsche	1'49.851	14.216	22
53	53	Mark Kvamme Trenton Estep Jan Magnussen Jason Hart	Porsche	1'50.210	14.575	27
54	80	PJ Hyett Seb Priaulx Gunnar Jeannette Harry Tincknell	Porsche	1'50.282	14.647	28
55	79	Cooper MacNeil D.Juncadella Jules Gounon Maro Engel	Mercedes	1'54.971	19.336	2
56	47	Roberto Lacorte G.Sernagiotto Antonio Fuoco A.Balzan	Ferrari	1'55.919	20.284	4
57	91	Alan Metni Kay van Berlo Jaxon Evans Julien Andlauer	Porsche	1'59.119	23.484	11
58	16	Ryan Hardwick Jan Heylen Z.Robichon Dennis Olsen	Porsche	-	-	3
59	31	Pipo Derani Alexander Sims Jack Aitken	Cadillac	-	-	4
60	62	A.P.Guidi James Calado Daniel Serra Davide Rigon	Ferrari	-	-	4
61	77	A.Brynjolfsson Trent Hindman Maxwell Root Kévin Estre	Porsche	-	-	5