Derani wasted no time in asserting his dominance on the leaderboard after topping the charts in Friday’s evening session. Piloting the No. 31 AXR Cadillac V-Series.R, he clocked an impressive time of 1m35.372s around the 3.56-mile road course layout at Daytona International Speedway.
Richard Westbrook, behind the wheel of JDC-Miller Motorsports’ No. 85 Porsche 963, came remarkably close to Derani’s time, trailing by a mere 0.026s.
The No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8, securing the third spot overall, matched Derani’s team by completing 43 laps, the second-highest in the GTP category. The No. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 led the class with 46 laps, finishing sixth overall and trailing by 0.783s.
In the LMP2 category, Nicklas Nielsen piloted the No. 88 AF Corse ORECA to the top with a swift lap of 1m38.576s. TDS Racing closely followed, with Charles Milesi’s rapid lap just 0.043s behind. The No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR entry, driven by Malthe Jakobsen, secured third place, trailing by 0.127s.
Despite a couple of incidents in the class, such as the No. 2 United Autosports USA entry spinning in Turn 3 and the No. 18 Era Motorsport entry spinning in Turn 6, both continued and finished in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
The GTD Pro category saw the No. 4 Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, driven by Tommy Milner, setting the pace with a lap time of 1m45.844s. Harry Tincknell in the Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ Mustang GT3 followed closely, 0.513s behind Milner’s time. The No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, piloted by Kyle Marcelli, was the fastest among the non-Pro GTD cars, trailing the Corvette by 0.142s.
Despite an early spin in Turn 6, AWA Racing’s No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R persevered, finishing 14th in the GTD class.