IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams took to Daytona International Speedway Friday (Jan. 20) for the first of three days of on-track activity as part of the ROAR Before the 24. After over three hours of testing, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Helio Castroneves was fastest with a lap at 134.608 mph.
Session No. 1
The opening 90-minute session saw a number of teams have issues. There were three red flag periods, but none of the three were serious.
The first came barely five minutes in when Andrew Wojteczko Autosport’s Nico Varrone stopped on course in West Bend. Later on, the second stoppage occurred when Riley Motorsports’ Felipe Fraga stopped his Ligier JS P320-Nissan in turn 7.
The final stoppage came with 22 minutes remaining when Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor stopped in the Le Mans chicane and required assistance to get back to the pits. There were a series of spins as well.
After 90 minutes of track time, the Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06 of Colin Braun was fastest overall with a lap at 134.010 mph. Braun’s lap was .141 seconds quicker than Porsche Penske Motorsports’ Matt Campbell in the best of the Porsche 963s. Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Ricky Taylor was third fastest, then BMW M Team RLL’s Nick Yelloly. Mathieu Jaminet was fifth in the second Porsche.
LMP2 was topped by PR1 Mathaisen Motorsports debutant Alex Quinn with a lap at 129.237 mph, good enough for ninth overall. Quinn’s lap was .167 seconds quicker than Era Motorsport’s Oliver Jarvis. Tower Motorsports’ Scott McLaughlin was third, then Rick Ware Racing’s Devlin DeFrancesco. Proton Competition’s Gianmaria Bruni was fifth.
The LMP3 class was plagued by a series of spins during the session. While none of them were damaging, they did cost teams some time.
Performance Tech Motorsports’ Cameron Shields was fastest in class with a lap at 123.843 mph, 19th overall. Shields was nearly a third of a second faster than Sean Creech Motorsport’s Joao Barbosa. AWA’s Wayne Boyd was third fastest despite teammate Varrone’s early issues, followed by Matt Bell in the second AWA Duqueine M30-D08-Nissan. Andretti Autosport’s Dakota Dickerson was fifth.
In the GT class, Andy Lally in the GTD-class Aston Martin Vantage GT3 was fastest of all GT drivers with a lap at 119.771 mph, good for 26th overall. Lally’s lap was nearly four-tenths of a second quicker than the Racers Edge Motorsports with Wayne…
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