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Edition

USA
Practice report

Rolex 24: O’Ward puts LMP2 car top in damp, inconclusive FP1

IndyCar ace Pato O’Ward sent DragonSpeed’s LMP2 Oreca to the head of the times in opening practice for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.

#81 DragonSpeed USA Oreca LMP2 07: Patricio O'Ward, Eric Lux, Colton Herta, Devlin Defrancesco

#81 DragonSpeed USA Oreca LMP2 07: Patricio O'Ward, Eric Lux, Colton Herta, Devlin Defrancesco

Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

The Mexican 21-year-old turned a 1min49.251sec lap of the 3.56-mile course and then promptly spun, but he had done enough to ensure a P2 car was on top by 0.016sec.

The DragonSpeed car turned 33 laps in the 90-minute session, some 1.5sec ahead of next fastest LMP2 runner Nico Muller in the High Class Racing machine, with Frits Van Eerd third for Racing Team Nederland ahead of Paul-Loup Chatin.

In the DPi class, Earl Bamber’s 1min49.267sec lap in the #02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R gave him a similar margin as O’Ward over the nearest opposition, Filipe Albuquerque in the 2021 Rolex 24-winning Acura ARX-05 of Wayne Taylor Racing.

Next up was Oliver Jarvis of Meyer Shank Racing, the #60 Acura being the only DPi car to turn more than a dozen laps in the session, as teams expect the damp conditions at the moment to be unrepresentative of how Daytona will be this weekend. Forecasts suggest instead that it will be extremely cold, with temperatures hovering around freezing point.

Only four LMP3 cars turned laps in FP1, with Matt Bell topping the times in AWA’s Duqueine ahead of Muehlner Motorsports’ similar car in the hands of Cameron Shields.

Mathieu Jaminet led GTD Pro by a country mile in the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1.7sec and 1.9sec faster than Dirk Muller and Daniel Juncadella in the two Proton-run Mercedes-AMG GT3 entries.

Laurens Vanthoor was fourth in KCMG’s Porsche, with reigning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM champ Antonio Garcia fifth in the Corvette C8.R and James Calado sixth in Risi Competizione’s Ferrari 488.

GTD was led by Luca Stolz in the SunEnergy1 Mercedes, and his time put him second in the 33-car GT field overall, as well as half a second faster than Jordan Pepper’s best effort in the Inception McLaren 720S.

Maxi Goetz was third fastest despite spinning the Alegra Motorsports Mercedes, while Katherine Legge slotted the Hardpoint Porsche into fourth.

Second practice begins at 3.20pm local (Eastern) time and will last 1hr45mins.

Practice results:

Cla Num Driver Class Chassis Time Gap
1 81 United States Eric Lux
Canada Devlin DeFrancesco
Mexico Patricio O'Ward
United States Colton Herta
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 1'49.251
2 02 New Zealand Earl Bamber
United Kingdom Alex Lynn
Sweden Marcus Ericsson
Denmark Kevin Magnussen
DPi Cadillac DPi 1'49.267 0.016
3 10 United States Ricky Taylor
Portugal Joao Barbosa
United States Alexander Rossi
United Kingdom Will Stevens
DPi Acura DPi 1'50.781 1.530
4 20 Denmark Dennis Andersen
Denmark Anders Fjordbach
Switzerland Fabio Scherer
Nico Mueller
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 1'50.789 1.538
5 60 United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
Brazil Helio Castroneves
France Simon Pagenaud
DPi Acura DPi 1'51.246 1.995
6 29 Netherlands Frits van Eerd
Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
Murry Dylan
Netherlands Rinus van Kalmthout
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 1'51.478 2.227
7 18 Dwight Merriman
United Kingdom Kyle Tilley
United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel
France Paul-Loup Chatin
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 1'51.765 2.514
8 69 United States John Falb
Australia James Allen
Italy Luca Ghiotto
Tijmen van
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 1'51.829 2.578
9 68 France François Heriau
Oliver Rasmussen
United Arab Emirates Ed Jones
Germany René Rast
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 1'52.383 3.132
10 8 Canada John Farano
Switzerland Louis Deletraz
Rui Pinto
Austria Ferdinand Habsburg
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 1'52.949 3.698
11 01 Netherlands Renger van der Zande
France Sébastien Bourdais
New Zealand Scott Dixon
Spain Alex Palou
DPi Cadillac DPi 1'52.989 3.738
12 31 Brazil Pipo Derani
United States Tristan Nunez
United Kingdom Mike Conway
DPi Cadillac DPi 1'53.324 4.073
13 48 Germany Mike Rockenfeller
Japan Kamui Kobayashi
United States Jimmie Johnson
Argentina Jose Maria Lopez
DPi Cadillac DPi 1'53.650 4.399
14 22 United States Jim McGuire
United Kingdom Guy Smith
United Kingdom Philip Hanson
United States Will Owen
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 1'54.036 4.785
15 9 Australia Matt Campbell
France Mathieu Jaminet
Brazil Felipe Nasr
GTD PRO Porsche 911 GT3 R 1'56.784 7.533
16 75 Australia Kenny Habul
Germany Luca Stolz
Italy Raffaele Marciello
Germany Fabian Schiller
GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 1'58.419 9.168
17 15 Germany Dirk Muller
Germany Patrick Assenheimer
United States Austin Cindric
GTD PRO Mercedes-AMG GT3 1'58.510 9.259
18 97 United States Cooper MacNeil
Spain Daniel Juncadella
Germany Maro Engel
France Jules Gounon
GTD PRO Mercedes-AMG GT3 1'58.658 9.407
19 2 Belgium Laurens Vanthoor
France Patrick Pilet
Norway Dennis Olsen
Switzerland Alexandre Imperatori
GTD PRO Porsche 911 GT3 R 1'58.936 9.685
20 70 Brendan Iribe
Switzerland Frederik Schandorff
United Kingdom Ollie Millroy
South Africa Jordan Lee Pepper
GTD McLaren 720S GT3 1'58.964 9.713
21 28 United States Michael de Quesada
Canada Daniel Morad
Linus Lundqvist
Maximillian Goetz
GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 1'59.001 9.750
22 99 Rob Ferriol
United Kingdom Katherine Legge
United Kingdom Stefan Wilson
United States Nicholas Boulle
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 1'59.115 9.864
23 3 Spain Antonio Garcia
United States Jordan Taylor
Netherlands Nick Catsburg
GTD PRO Corvette C8.R GTD 1'59.173 9.922
24 71 France Franck Perera
LLarena Mateo
Germany Paul Maximilian
Canada Mikhail Goikhberg
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 1'59.195 9.944
25 98 Canada Paul Dalla Lana
David Pittard
Ireland Charles Eastwood
Denmark Nicki Thiim
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 1'59.215 9.964
26 13 Canada Orey Fidani
Canada Kuno Wittmer
Germany Lars Kern
United Kingdom Matthew Bell
LMP3 Duqueine D08 1'59.223 9.972
27 26 Nolan Siegel
Australia Cameron Shields
Charles Crews
Ugo De
LMP3 Duqueine D08 1'59.224 9.973
28 62 Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi
United Kingdom James Calado
Brazil Daniel Serra
Italy Davide Rigon
GTD PRO Ferrari 488 GT3 1'59.656 10.405
29 25 United States Connor de Phillippi
United States John Edwards
Brazil Augusto Farfus
Finland Jesse Krohn
GTD PRO BMW M4 GT3 1'59.682 10.431
30 19 United States Bill Sweedler
John Megrue
Italy Giacomo Altoè
United States Jeff Segal
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 1'59.767 10.516
31 4 United States Tommy Milner
United Kingdom Nick Tandy
Denmark Marco Sorensen
GTD PRO Corvette C8.R GTD 1'59.945 10.694
32 21 Mann Simon
Argentina Luis Perez Companc
Denmark Nicklas Nielsen
Finland Toni Vilander
GTD Ferrari 488 GT3 1'59.963 10.712
33 42 United States Don Yount
Benja Hites
United States Jaden Conwright
Finland Markus Palttala
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 2'00.067 10.816
34 47 Italy Roberto Lacorte
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto
Italy Antonio Fuoco
Italy Alessio Rovera
GTD Ferrari 488 GT3 2'00.123 10.872
35 66 Kyffin Simpson
United States Till Bechtolsheimer
United States Marc Miller
Germany Mario Farnbacher
GTD Acura NSX GT3 2'00.431 11.180
36 32 United States Mike Skeen
United States Guy Cosmo
United Kingdom Stevan McAleer
Australia Scott Andrews
GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 2'00.589 11.338
37 96 United States Robby Foley
United States Bill Auberlen
Michael Dinan
Germany Jens Klingmann
GTD BMW M4 GT3 2'00.663 11.412
38 6 Efrin Castro
Germany Moritz Kranz
Ori Ayrton
United States Joel Miller
LMP3 Duqueine D08 2'00.800 11.549
39 59 Lance Bergstein
Jon Miller
United States Patrick Gallagher
United States Paul Holton
GTD McLaren 720S GT3 2'00.960 11.709
40 44 United States John Potter
United States Andy Lally
United States Spencer Pumpelly
United Kingdom Jonathan Adam
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 2'01.223 11.972
41 63 Italy Marco Mapelli
Italy Andrea Caldarelli
Italy Mirko Bortolotti
Switzerland Rolf Ineichen
GTD PRO Lamborghini Huracan GT3 2'01.246 11.995
42 39 United States Robert Megennis
United States Corey Lewis
United Kingdom Sandy Mitchell
United States Jeff Westphal
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 2'01.376 12.125
43 74 United States Gar Robinson
Brazil Felipe Fraga
Netherlands Kay van Berlo
United States Michael Cooper
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 2'01.865 12.614
44 24 Austria Philipp Eng
Germany Marco Wittmann
United Kingdom Nick Yelloly
South Africa Sheldon Van Der Linde
GTD PRO BMW M4 GT3 2'01.906 12.655
45 34 Kyle Washington
United States James Sofronas
Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen
Austria Klaus Bachler
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 2'04.673 15.422
46 12 United States Frankie Montecalvo
United States Aaron Telitz
United States Richard Heistand
United States Townsend Bell
GTD Lexus RC F GT3 2'09.973 20.722
47 64 United States Ted Giovanis
United States Hugh Plumb
United States Matt Plumb
United States Owen Trinkler
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 2'11.813 22.562
48 5 France Tristan Vautier
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
France Loic Duval
United States Ben Keating
DPi Cadillac DPi 0.000
49 7 United States Mark Kvamme
United States Austin McCusker
United States Trenton Estep
Antoine Doquin
LMP3 Duqueine D08 0.000
50 11 Thomas Steven
United States Josh Pierson
United States Jonathan Bomarito
United Kingdom Harry Tincknell
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 0.000
51 14 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth
United Kingdom Ben Barnicoat
United States Kyle Kirkwood
GTD PRO Lexus RC F GT3 0.000
52 16 United States Ryan Hardwick
Canada Zacharie Robichon
Belgium Jan Heylen
Austria Richard Lietz
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 0.000
53 23 United Kingdom Ross Gunn
Spain Alex Riberas
Belgium Maxime Martin
GTD PRO Aston Martin Vantage GT3 0.000
54 27 Canada Roman De Angelis
United Kingdom Ian James
United Kingdom Darren Turner
Tom Gamble
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 0.000
55 33 Portugal Joao Barbosa
Malthe Jakobsen
Seb Priaulx
United States Lance Willsey
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 0.000
56 36 United States Jarett Andretti
Josh Burdon
Sweden Rasmus Lindh
Colombia Gabby Chaves
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 0.000
57 38 Dan Goldburg
Hikaru Abe
Canada Garett Grist
Nicolas Pino
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 0.000
58 52 United States Ben Keating
Denmark Mikkel Jensen
Scott Huffaker
France Nicolas Lapierre
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 0.000
59 54 United States Jon Bennett
United States Colin Braun
United States George Kurtz
Sweden Nic Jönsson
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 0.000
60 57 United States Russell Ward
Switzerland Philip Ellis
Canada Mikael Grenier
Austria Lucas Auer
GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 0.000
61 79 United States Cooper MacNeil
Julien Andlauer
Italy Matteo Cairoli
Belgium Alessio Picariello
GTD PRO Porsche 911 GT3 R 0.000

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