Martin Leads Mercedes-AMG Sweep in Session 6

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Maxime Martin led a Winward Racing 1-2 sweep in Sunday morning’s session at the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway, marking the first running for GTD Pro and GTD cars only of the weekend.

Martin, in the team’s GTD Pro class Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, reeled off a chart-topping 1:47.152 in the four-hour long session, edging out Winward’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG of Philip Ellis by 0.171 seconds.

The No. 59 Team RLL McLaren 720S GT3 Evo showed its competitive pace for the first time with the third quickest lap and second best in GTD Pro in the hands of factory driver Dean MacDonald.

It was followed by the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG that saw two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power log additional seat time ahead of his expected Rolex 24 at Daytona debut.

Magnus Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which topped several of Saturday’s sessions, completed the top-five overall in the second-to-last test session of the weekend.

The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth was sixth quickest amongst the combined classes, with the No. 120 Wright Motorsports entry the best-placed Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo in seventh with Callum Ilott.

Lamborghini’s new Temerario GT3, run by Pfaff Motorsports, posted the eighth quickest time in the hands of Andrea Caldarelli on Sunday, ahead of the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in ninth.

The updated Ford Mustang GT3 EVOs were near the bottom of the running order, with the No. 64 Multimatic Motorsports-run entry the best-placed in 14th.

There was only a single red flag during the running, for debris in Turn 7, which resulted in only six minutes of downtime.

Of note, the AF Corse Ferrari was handed a 30-minute stop-and-hold penalty at the beginning of the session after it was determined by officials that the car illegally ran last season’s specification of Michelin tire in Saturday’s Session 3.

GTD Pro and GTD teams are debuting Michelin’s new Pilot Sport Pro GT H1+ this weekend, which is mandatory for all teams in both classes.

A final three-hour session, from 2-5 p.m. ET, will wrap up the test this afternoon.

RESULTS: Test Session 6

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