Allmendinger Puts MSR, Acura on Top in Practice 2

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

AJ Allmendinger put Acura on the top of the time sheets for the first time of the week at Daytona International Speedway, with the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing entry quickest in Thursday’s second practice session for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Allmendinger reeled off a quick lap of 1:34.287 late in the session to edge out the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Scott Dixon by 0.376 seconds.

Mike Rockenfeller, who paced the majority of the session in the No. 48 Action Express Racing Cadillac, wound up third quickest, with Sebastien Bourdais and Jonathan Bomarito completing the top-five for JDC-Miller Motorsports and Mazda, respectively.

The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson again paced LMP2, but this time in the hands of Mikkel Jensen, while LMP3 was led by the No. 91 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Dylan Murry.

A 1:42.600 lap by Gianmaria Bruni put the privateer WeatherTech Racing squad atop the GT Le Mans time charts, outpacing the pair of factory Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs and BMW M8 GTEs, as well as the second-placed Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

Bruni’s lap in the No. 79 Porsche 911 RSR-19 was 0.154 seconds quicker than James Calado in the Risi entry.

After battling electrical issues in opening practice, the No. 111 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo topped the GT Daytona class.

Mirko Bortolotti’s 1:45.690 lap time was 0.243 seconds faster than the No. 64 Team TGM Porsche 911 GT3 R of Owen Trinkler.

Katherine Legge and Laurens Vanthoor made it three Porsches in the top-four in class in the No. 88 Team Hardpoint EBM and No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports entries, respectively.

There were no major incidents or stoppages, although the No. 97 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Charlie Eastwood was spotted to have right-front tire issues.

All but one car turned laps in the session, with the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 electing to sit out the session.

The third and final practice session of the day is set for a 7:15 p.m. ET start.

RESULTS: Practice 2

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