Palou Keeps Ganassi Cadillac On Top in Practice 2

Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac maintained their grip on the top of the times in second practice for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, as Alex Palou set the pace on Thursday afternoon.

After Scott Dixon led the way in first practice earlier in the day, Renger van der Zande moved the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to the head of the order with a 1:35.670 effort just under 30 minutes into the one hour, 45 minute session.

Palou then lowered the bar further with a 1:35.589 set with 12 minutes left on the clock, enough to end the session 0.135 seconds clear of the No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 in which Felipe Nasr set the best time early on.

Third-fastest was the No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche, which was only a further 0.030 seconds back in the hands of Gianmaria Bruni, while Jack Aitken made it two Cadillacs in the top four aboard the No. 31 Action Express Racing car.

Best of the BMW M Hybrid V8s was sixth-fastest with Nick Yelloly at the wheel of the No. 25 machine, behind the second of the factory Porsches, the No. 6 car of Mathieu Jaminet.

Acura once again had a low-key session with the two Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti ARX-06s ending eighth and 10th, Ricky Taylor delivering the best lap for the Honda-owned brand, 0.815 seconds off the pace.

In LMP2, Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports led the way courtesy of a 1:39.416 effort from Clement Novalak in the No. 52 Oreca 07 Gibson, fractionally slower than Toby Sowery’s benchmark from earlier in the day.

James Allen was only 0.081 seconds slower than Novalak at the wheel of the No. 81 DragonSpeed car, while the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR entry in which Sowery set the fastest time of the day was third with Malthe Jakobsen at the wheel.

Porsches led the way in the GTD ranks, with Klaus Bachler setting the best time of the session, a 1:47.345, in the No. 86 MDK Motorsports 911 GT3 R.

Second was the No. 55 Proton Competition Ford of Dennis Olsen, 0.040 seconds behind, while Albert Costa was third in the No. 21 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.

Best of the GTD Pro entries was the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Alexander Rossi on a 1:47.144, a little under two tenths up on the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari of Daniel Serra.

The No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports entry did not appear during the session as it undertook another engine change, having already undergone a swap during the Roar Before the 24 weekend.

No such issues afflicted the sister No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which was fifth in GTD Pro in the hands of Tommy Milner.

One more practice session is scheduled on Thursday after sunset at 6:35 p. m. ET.

RESULTS: Practice 2