Derani Keeps AXR On Top in Night Practice

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Pipo Derani has kept the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R atop the time charts in a clean sweep of all three practice sessions Thursday at Sebring International Raceway for the Whelen Engineering-sponsored team.

The Brazilian reeled off a 1:46.898 lap time in the 90-minute nighttime session to edge out the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande by 0.454 seconds.

Derani’s co-driver Felipe Nasr was quickest in the two other sessions earlier today, including setting a chart-topping 1:46.212 from Practice 1 that held as the best of the day.

Ricky Taylor was third on Thursday evening in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 ahead of the No. 48 Action Express Cadillac, which has rebounded from throttle-related issues in Practice 2.

The No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais completed the top-five.

LMP2 was again led by the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson of Mikkel Jensen while Jeroen Bleekemolen was quickest yet again in LMP3 in his No. 91 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan.

The top four GT Le Mans cars, however, were ahead of the LMP3 pace-setter, paced by the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Mathieu Jaminet.

The pair of Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs were second and third in class.

Porsche also led the way in GT Daytona with the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports entry of Laurens Vanthoor topping the times.

The Belgian was 0.360 seconds quicker than Aaron Telitz in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, with the No. 19 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo third.

The session was halted early for an incident involving the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus, which lost a wheel, while IMSA elected to practice its new wave-by procedure again, resulting in a full course caution and safety car neutralization.

Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m. ET on Friday.

RESULTS: Practice 3

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