Daytona Wednesday Notebook

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

***Andrea Caldarelli unofficially led the way in the opening day of the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway, with the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 posting a best time of 1:35.027 in Wednesday’s afternoon session. It was 0.105 seconds quicker than the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, which topped the time charts in the morning session, and some four-tenths clear of the GTP competition in the second session.

***The only notable incident for the Lamborghini came in the final 30 minutes of the second session when Caldarelli limped the car back to the pits with a left-rear puncture. No damage was sustained to the car, which returned to action for the final ten minutes of the day.

***Caldarelli spent the entire day in the cockpit of the Ligier-chassied prototype, with teammates Daniil Kvyat, Mirko Bortolotti and Romain Grosjean all expected to get seat time tomorrow. Bortolotti, meanwhile, is set to additionally turn laps in the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 that he’s entered in for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

***Franck Perera, meanwhile, is slated to perform Lamborghini’s ‘targeted performance testing’ on Friday and Saturday in the No. 19 car.

***Wednesday’s opening session saw a single red flag, for the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi, which stopped on track and required a tow back to the garage.

***It was followed by two further reds in the afternoon, the first for debris, followed by an incident for the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson of Hunter McElrea in Turn 5, although the car sustained no apparent damage once brought back to the garage on a tow truck and quickly returned to the track.

***GTP and LMP2 cars had the 3.56-mile track to themselves on Wednesday, with GTD Pro and GTD cars set to join in combined sessions on Thursday, which will feature three on-track sessions, including night-time running.

***IMSA has released an entry list for the test, featuring drivers for all 43 cars that are taking part. Click Here to view.

***One of the most notable additions is Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC Challenge driver Ritomo Miyata, who is set turn laps in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 this week. The 24-year-old Japanese driver is set for a European Le Mans Series program with Cool Racing as well as undertaking a season in Formula 2 next year.

***Louis Deletraz, meanwhile, is listed in both WTR Andretti Acura ARX-06s cars, due to Brendon Hartley not taking part in the test. The No. 40 Acura is running without primary sponsorship this week, with an announcement pending regarding its commercial partner.

***It has resulted in Jordan Taylor wearing a Rodney Sandstorm fire suit at the test, as the originally intended suits for the No. 40 crew displayed the team’s new sponsor.

***Indy NXT race winner Toby Sowery turned laps in CrowdStrike by APR’s Oreca 07 Gibson on Wednesday as a prospective driver for the Michelin Endurance Cup races. Sportscar365 understands that Malthe Jakobsen, who is part of the team’s 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series lineup, could complete the team’s lineup for the Rolex 24.

***AF Corse Ferrari Hypercar driver Nicklas Nielsen is sharing the wheel of Richard Mille AF Corse’s LMP2 entry with Luis Perez Companc this week, while also being listed to drive Cetilar Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 alongside team owner Roberto Lacorte. Alessandro Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra are due to turn laps in Risi Competizione’s Ferrari, meanwhile.

***Jake Walker has been announced as the Endurance Cup driver for Turner Motorsport’s No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 this year. Walker joins the previously confirmed full season pairing of Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher, with Jens Klingmann completing the lineup for the Rolex 24.

***Of note, Bill Auberlen will not be part of Turner’s WeatherTech Championship lineup next year as the team scales back to a single-car effort.

***While yet to announce its lineup, the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R has Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer and Jan Heylen listed on the car for the test. Adelson and Skeer competed in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS this year with the same car with the Ohio-based squad.

***Adam Christodoulou, meanwhile, has been drafted into the No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for the test.

***Forte Racing, which announced three of its four drivers on Wednesday, will have a Lamborghini factory driver as its fourth driver for the Rolex 24 according to a team spokesperson.

***Former Prema Racing FIA World Endurance Championship driver Filip Ugran is expected to test with Sean Creech Motorsport on Thursday, joining Jonny Edgar in the team’s evaluation process for a Silver-rated driver for the Endurance Cup races.

***Danny Formal is set for his first laps in the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 on Thursday although the reigning Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America champion had “seven laps” in the previous-gen Evo car in 2021 during a test at Vallelunga.

***Formal said several mechanics from his and Kyle Marcelli’s two championship-winning Super Trofeo programs are with the GTD effort this year, with the team. “It’s a progression, not even for us drivers but for also the mechanics at WTR Andretti, that we go up from Super Trofeo to GTD and possibly GTP,” he told Sportscar365. “It’s an amazing ladder system.”

***Jenson Button, who turned his first laps in the Acura LMDh car on Wednesday, wouldn’t reveal the differences between the ORECA-chassied prototype and the Multimatic-chassied Porsche 963 that he drove in October’s Motul Petit Le Mans with JDC-Miller Motorsports. “I compare them in my head but I can’t let you know the difference, sorry to say!” he told Sportscar365.

***Sportscar365 understands that the Acura LMDh car has undergone some minor re-homologations regarding revised placement of several components. However, it’s believed to have not warranted any ‘EVO Jokers’ unlike the Porsche 963, which is the only LMDh model to have applied for such allowances in the technical regulations for 2024.

***The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport drivers have benefitted from an upgraded simulator at Honda Performance Development that now includes the steering wheel from the ARX-06 integrated into the system, which Jordan Taylor told Sportscar365 has come as a significant step forward from its previous setup.

***It was confirmed on Wednesday during Radio Le Mans’ Midweek Motorsport that Radio Show Limited will continue to co-produce IMSA Radio next year, including the international TV feed for the sanctioning body. It comes after an initial plan for IMSA to take the production in-house has been put on hold.

***John Hindhaugh will continue to be the voice of IMSA Radio’s broadcasts, alongside the expected return of Jeremy Shaw and Shea Adam.

***Thursday will mark the first running for a number of GT teams on Michelin’s new-for-2024 Pilot Sport Pro GT H1 tire, which replaces the S9M in both GTD Pro and GTD next year.

***Michelin and IMSA, meanwhile, have renamed the GTP tire options, for it to follow the same nomenclature utilized in the WEC. The Soft Low Temperature (SLT) has become Soft, while Soft High Temperature (SHT) is now the Medium, with the Medium High Temperature (MLT) renamed to Hard. The GTP/Hypercar tire compounds remain unchanged for 2024.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John