Alex Palou Fastest in Rolex 24 at Daytona Practice

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Practice Thursday (Jan. 25) for the Rolex 24 at Daytona largely mirrored much of last weekend’s ROAR Before the 24. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was fastest overall in Cadillac with a lap at 134.074 mph during the afternoon session.

For Palou, someone who has had limited time in the Cadillac VSeries.R prior to the ROAR Before the 24, Thursday was rather educational.

“Lots of learning [for me]. Every time you go out in the car, you’re dealing with different conditions and traffic. I’m learning as much as I can from the car going into the race.”

Practice No. 1

In the morning practice session, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Kevin Estre was quickest for a decent chunk of the session. He was eventually overtaken by Rene Rast. In the end, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon set a lap at 133.483 mph with two minutes remaining in the session to top the chart.

Dixon’s lap was .127 seconds faster than BMW M Team RLL’s Connor de Phillippi. Estre was third, then Dries Vanthoor in the second BMW. Dane Cameron was fifth in the best of the Porsches.

LMP2 was topped by CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s Toby Sowery with a lap at 128.925 mph, 11th overall. Sowery’s lap was .122 seconds faster than United Autosports’ Ben Hanley in the Wynn’s-sponsored No. 2. TDS Racing’s Charles Milesi was third, then Era Motorsport’s Ryan Dalziel. Inter Europol Competition with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Tom Dillmann was third.

In the GT ranks, Gradient Racing’s Katherine Legge took advantage of the cooler conditions earlier in the session to set the best lap of all GT runners with a lap at 120.242 mph in her Acura. That lap was .275 seconds faster than Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley. The Ferrari of Conquest Racing’s Albert Costa was third, then Winward Racing’s Russell Ward and Cetilar Racing’s Antonio Fuoco.

GTD Pro was led by Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth with a lap at 120.019 seconds. The lap was second of all GT drivers, nearly two-tenths of a second slower than Legge.

Hawksworth’s lap was .074 seconds faster than Pfaff Motorsports’ Marvin Kirchhoefer in his McLaren. Risi Competizione’s James Calado was third, then SunEnergy1 Racing’s Jules Gounon and Iron Lynx’s Mirko Bortolotti.

Practice No. 2

The 105-minute afternoon session was more of the same at the top of the chart. The Chip Ganassi Racing team was on top for the vast majority of the session. Renger van der…