BMWs to the Fore in Saturday Night Session

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

The pair of Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s went to the fore in the fifth session at the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway, with Marco Wittmann leading the way after two hours of night-time running.

Wittmann, in the No. 25 BMW, recorded a best lap of 1:36.697 to edge out the sister No. 24 BMW of Dries Vanthoor by 0.073 seconds.

Porsche 963s were second and third quickest, led by the No. 6 Penske entry of Julien Andlauer with a best time of 1:36.780, ahead of the privateer JDC-Miller Motorsports car, again in the hands of Nico Pino, that is running to 2025 specification.

The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06, which topped Saturday’s first session, completed the top-five in the GTP class with Tom Blomqvist.

LMP2 was led by the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca 07 Gibson of Alex Quinn, thanks to a 1:40.340 lap time.

The pair of Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos, meanwhile, topped GTD and GTD Pro.

It was led by the GTD class No. 57 machine of Lucas Auer, who was a half-second quicker than the team’s new GTD Pro entry, which also led its class in the hands of fellow works driver Maxime Martin.

Thirty-six of the 38 entries set times in the session, with only the No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports and No. 37 Intersport Racing Orecas not turning laps.

There were two brief red flags during the running, although neither for any significant incident.

Saturday evening’s session marked the completion of the test for GTP and LMP2 entries, with Sunday’s final two sessions reserved exclusively for GTD Pro and GTD machinery.

The sessions will run from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-5 p.m. (all times ET).

RESULTS: Test Session 5

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