Albuquerque, Action Express Pace Night Practice

Photo: John Dagys

Filipe Albuquerque led a Cadillac DPi-V.R 1-2-3 in night practice for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The No. 31 Whelen Engineering-backed, Action Express Racing-run Cadillac ended the 90-minute session with a best lap of 1:34.914, which was more than three-tenths clear of the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi of Renger van der Zande in second.

Joao Barbosa was third quickest in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac, with the No. 6 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 fourth in the hands of defending DPi champion Dane Cameron.

The team’s sister No. 7 Acura, which suffered an accident in qualifying from Ricky Taylor, returned to the track in the final five minutes of the session in the hands of Taylor, completing two installation laps.

Neither of the Team Joest Mazda RT24-Ps took part in the session, including the pole-sitting No. 77 entry, due to scheduled engine changes.

GT Le Mans was led by the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR of Mathieu Jaminet, thanks to a 1:43.301 lap time by the Frenchman. 

The No. 24 Team RLL BMW M8 GTE was second quickest in class, while unspecified technical issues left the No. 25 BMW in the garage for the majority of the session before venturing out in the final 20 minutes.

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports’ Gabriel Aubry paced LMP2 while the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler was quickest in GT Daytona.

Magnus Racing, which missed qualifying due to a differential issue, ended up fourth quickest in class, completing 36 laps.

Thirty-five of the 38 cars took part in the session, with Black Swan Racing now in rebuild mode around a spare Porsche chassis following an accident in opening practice.

A final 60-minute practice session is scheduled for 9:55 a.m. on Friday.

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