Van der Linde Tops Second Roar Session

Sheldon van der Linde put BMW M Team WRT atop the timesheets in the second session of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.

The South African steered the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 to a best lap of 1:36.742, 0.138 seconds faster than No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 of Tijmen van der Helm.

Van der Linde’s effort was slightly slower than the 1:36.327 that Porsche Penske Motorsport driver Felipe Nasr posted to top the opening session on Friday, which notably also ended with the JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche in second place.

Laurin Heinrich was third in the No. 7 Porsche, followed by the sister car driven by Laurens Vanthoor.

Vanthoor’s late flyer dropped Action Express Racing’s No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R, driven by Earl Bamber, to fifth.

The two Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac ended the session in sixth and seventh with Filipe Albuquerque and Jordan Taylor at the wheel.

The overall top ten was completed by the No. 60 Acura ARX-05 of Tom Blomqvist, Kevin Magnussen’s No. 25 BMW and the No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie driven by Ross Gunn.

Hunter McElrea set the pace in the LMP2 category, setting a best lap of 1:39.136 aboard the No. 2 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson.

Enzo Fittipaldi was 0.143 seconds behind for Pratt Miller Motorsports, followed by Inter Europol Competition’s Tom Dillmann.

Corey Lewis was the fastest driver in the GT ranks, with the GTD-entered No. 66 Gradient Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO recording a best lap of 1:47.552.

Lewis’ lap was 0.103 seconds quicker than Chaz Mostert’s 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo that led GTD Pro with a time of 1:47.625.

That was followed by Danny Formal in the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and Russell Ward aboard the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG.

The two-hour session, which served to wrap up the opening day of Roar running, was twice interrupted by a red flag.

Job van Uitert triggered the first stoppage when he hit the wall at Turn 1 after 16 minutes, with the No. 37 Intersport Racing Oreca not returning for the remainder of the session.

Esteban Masson then brought the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 to a halt at Turn 5 15 minutes later, causing a second red flag.

On-track running for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship continues with the third Roar session on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. ET.