Derani Paces Warmup; Hawksworth Crashes

Pipo Derani led the morning warmup that ended early due to an accident for Jack Hawksworth in the No. 15 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3.

The session was red flagged just after the halfway mark when Hawksworth’s car made heavy contact with a tire barrier and did not resume.

According to IMSA Radio, the Briton reported to the team that the brakes had malfunctioned, leading to the accident. Hawksworth exited the car, which had undergone an engine change earlier in the weekend, under his own power, and was quickly checked and released from the medical center.

Almost simultaneously, the No. 52 AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Ligier JSP17 Ligier stopped on track, reportedly due to a left rear tire that had lost pressure.

Derani narrowly edged Ricky Taylor to put the No. 22 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Onroak DPi at the top of the charts by 0.008 seconds. Stephen Simpson was third for JDC-Miller Motorsports.

Antonio Garcia was the quickest of the GT Le Mans class runners in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, followed by Ford Chip Ganassi’s Richard Westbrook and John Edwards of BMW Team RLL.

Joerg Bergmeist set the fast mark in GT Daytona for Park Place Motorsports, followed by Andy Lally and Jeroen Bleekemolen of Magnus Racing and Riley Motorsports, respectively.

Earlier in the session, the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NXS GT3 of Justin Marks encountered a problem on its out lap when it failed to get up to speed. Marks limped the car back to the garage where the crew set to work trying to identify the cause of the problem.

The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase is set to begin at 1:35 p.m. CDT this afternoon.

RESULTS: Warmup