Rolex 24: Kobayashi fastest in final practice before race
Wayne Taylor Racing’s ex-F1 star Kamui Kobayashi dominated the fourth and final practice session on Friday morning ahead of this weekend's Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.
Kobayashi rattled off a series of strong laps in the #10 Cadillac DPi-V.R, ending with a 1m35.340s before he pitted.
Helio Castroneves was second fastest in the #7 Acura ARX-05 that crashed at the Bus Stop in the hands of Ricky Taylor during qualifying on Thursday, working down to within 0.393s of the fastest time.
Sebastien Bourdais was third quickest in the #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac, ahead of Mike Conway in the #31 Action Express Racing entry.
Although this session is primarily aimed at teams making final preparations ahead of the 24-hour race, there were two red flags for crashes. The first stoppage was for the #47 Precision Performance Lamborghini of Mark Kvamme spinning at the Bus Stop, which caused some anxious avoidances as he came to a halt in the middle of the track.
The second red flag, which ended the session prematurely, was for the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca LMP2. Don Yount spun the car which ended up on its side on the inside of Turn 6. He scrambled from the car unhurt.
In GTLM, the new Chevrolet C8.R set the pace in Antonio Garcia’s hands. He lapped in 1m42.962s, seven tenths clear of Nick Tandy’s #911 Porsche 911 RSR-19. Laurens Vanthoor was next up in the sister Porsche, ahead of Bruno Spengler’s BMW M8 GTE.
Former Toyota F1 tester Franck Perera topped GTD in the #11 GRT Grasser Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, ahead of the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 of Toni Vilander.
The #54 Black Swan Porsche that was crashed heavily in practice at Turn 1 in the hands of Trenton Estep was back on track, albeit with a replacement chassis loaned by Wright Motorsports. Star driver Jeroen Bleekemolen was straight on the pace, ending the session in third, and the car appeared to run flawlessly.
Meantime, the #44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini Huracan, that missed qualifying due to a gearbox failure, also returned to action.
Nicolas Lapierre set the pace in LMP2 for Tower Motorsport by Starworks, his Oreca lapping eighth fastest overall.
Previous article
Mazda now has more "business-like" mentality
Next article
IMSA and ACO announce Prototype rules convergence in 2022
About this article
| Series | IMSA |
| Event | Daytona 24 |
| Sub-event | Practice 4 |
| Author | Charles Bradley |
24 Hours of Daytona Video Recap
24 Hours of Daytona: Fourth Place for Ferrari
Watch the entire Rolex 24 in just over a minute
The GTE dilemma that IMSA has created for the WEC
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s decision to scrap its GT Le Mans class for 2022 raises the question of whether the FIA World Endurance Championship should phase out GTE cars. But it's a much harder decision than it appears on the surface.
Nine things to watch at the 2021 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona
After a 100-minute sprint race to whet the appetite, the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship gets underway properly this weekend. With plenty of significant changes during the winter, here are the key points you need to keep an eye on
Why Magnussen is relishing a fresh start in sportscars
Having gone over seven years without a race win through spells with McLaren, Renault and Haas, Kevin Magnussen's departure from Formula 1 for IMSA with big-hitters Chip Ganassi Racing could give him what he craves most - a chance of success
Oliver Gavin's Corvette Racing highlights
Oliver Gavin has stepped down from the full-time Corvette Racing line-up after a stellar career with the team spanning nearly 20 years. He looks back on a stint that encompassed, among other successes, five Le Mans 24 Hours victories.
How Tandy joined an exclusive club of endurance legends
Victory at last year's Spa 24 Hours meant Nick Tandy had completed the unofficial sextuple crown of the world's six biggest endurance races, becoming the first Briton to do so. Ahead of his fresh start with Corvette Racing, he explains how he did it…
The 12 greatest Sebring 12 Hours ranked
The 2020 edition of the Florida sportscar classic is finally taking place this weekend, eight months after its traditional date in March. That meant there was plenty of time for Motorsport.com to pour over its previous 67 races and select the best.
Tony Kanaan’s top 10 races – in his own words
The 2004 IndyCar champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan probably hasn’t yet driven his final IndyCar race, but we still asked him for the 10 most significant races of his career. He explained his choices to David Malsher-Lopez.
Why the GTE ruleset looks to have run its course
The GTE ruleset has served sportscar racing in both Europe and the United States well over the past decade. But now there are clear signs that the end of its life is in sight as manufacturer support continues to fade.
