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Legge, DeltaWing Paces Final Practice at Daytona

DeltaWing coupe paces an eventful final practice at Daytona…

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: John Dagys

The DeltaWing DWC13 coupe showcased its speed during the final practice for the 54th Rolex 24 at Daytona, in what was the first and thus far only dry session of the weekend.

Katherine Legge posted the fastest time of the weekend thus far at 1:38.590, while teammates Sean Rayhall and Andy Meyrick also had stints atop the timesheets during the one-hour session.

The pair Ligier JS P2 Hondas from Michael Shank Racing and Tequila Patron ESM were second and third, while the No. 55 Mazda and No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP completed the top five.

Meanwhile drama has struck the overall polesitting entry, the SMP Racing BR Engineering BR01 Nissan, which suffered an engine failure exiting the International Horseshoe.

Kirill Ladygin was driving the team’s No. 37 car at the time, in the car he’ll share with Mikhail Aleshin, who qualified, Nicolas Minassian and Maurizio Mediani.

While the team will need to change engines, it will not forfeit its grid position as a result. Rule 40.2.8 of the sporting regulations stipulates that a car would only need to drop to the rear of the grid in its category for races less than six hours long.

Tom Kimber-Smith took the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports team to the top of Prototype Challenge at 1:43.283.

The pair of BMW Team RLL BMW M6 GTLMs went 1-2 in GT Le Mans, with Bill Auberlen posting a best time of 1:44.966 in the No. 25 car and Lucas Luhr following with a 1:45.199 in the No. 100 car.

Scuderia Corsa’s Ferrari 488 GTE, the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR and the SMP Racing Ferrari completed the top five in class. The best Corvette C7.R was seventh and the best Ford GT 10th.

In GT Daytona, the class polesitting No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Joerg Bergmeister, led the way at 1:47.594.

The Paul Miller Racing and O’Gara Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3s were next up, with the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 and No. 23 The Heart of Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R completing the top five in class.

Drama struck the second Turner BMW, the No. 97 car, which stopped on the backstraight before the Bus Stop chicane to bring out the second and last red flag of the session.

Of note, the No. 16 Change Racing Lamborghini returned to the track following a heroic effort from the crew, that stayed until the late hours of night to complete repairs from its accident on Thursday. However, the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R did not turn laps during this session.

This marks the final on-track activity before Saturday’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, which goes green starting at 2:40 p.m. ET and local time.

RESULTS: Practice 4

Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) is Sportscar365's North American Editor, focusing on coverage of the IMSA-sanctioned championships as well as Pirelli World Challenge. DiZinno also contributes to NBCSports.com and other motorsports outlets. Contact Tony

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