Privateer Porsches Lead Final Day at Roar before the Rolex 24

Inclement weather failed to put a damper on the final day of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship testing at the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.

While the factory Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963s remained in the Daytona International Speedway garages during a rainy one-hour concluding session for the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class, the two customer 963s fielded by Proton Competition and JDC-Miller MotorSports topped the timing screens.

Neel Jani posted the day’s best lap of 1 minute, 45.433 seconds (121.556 miles per hour) in Proton’s No. 5 Porsche, just surpassing Gianmaria Bruni’s 1:45.879 (121.044 mph) in JDC-Miller’s similar No. 85 car.

Jack Aitken filled out the top three in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, while Sheldon van der Linde continued BMW’s impressive form in the lead-up to next weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona by logging the fourth-best time in the wet conditions.

Jani’s lap was almost exactly 10 seconds off the fastest lap of the three-day Roar test, a 1:35.424 (134.306 mph) effort turned in on Friday afternoon by Dries Vanthoor in the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8.

Forty-one of the 61 cars entered for next weekend’s twice-around-the-clock contest turned laps Sunday in a 60-minute session that was delayed more than two hours when a thunderstorm brought track activity to a halt.

“We decided to drive because we have not had any experience yet in Daytona in the wet with that car,” said Jani, a 41-year-old from Switzerland. “We were trying it out and gathering data to see how the tire develops and how tire pressures develop, especially on the banking.

“In the beginning it was a bit drier and there were some dry patches in the (Le Mans) chicane, but afterwards the conditions got worse,” he added. “But it was a very interesting session for us, just in terms of learning in the various conditions. Next week, it looks like on qualifying day it could be wet; this way we already have a bit of experience.”

The wet track contributed to a handful of spins in Turn 1, but there were no crashes as drivers took care to not damage their cars prior to race weekend.

“When there is no standing water, there is actually good grip because there is not a lot of rubber down,” Jani said. “But when it rains a lot, there’s a big danger of aquaplaning. Turn 1 is definitely a tricky one, because if you cross the rubber line, it’s very slippery. And Turn 1 has a lot of rubber everywhere! So you have to find that two-meter gap somewhere in that line that has the grip. As soon as you miss that line, it gets fairly tricky.”

Paul Di Resta (No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07) paced the 10 Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) entries that elected to practice in the wet. His 1:49.870 lap works out to a 116.647 mph average and was 0.6 second up on Mikkel Jensen in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA.

Ollie Millroy in the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 was fastest among all Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class competitors at 1:57.033 (109.507 mph). The fastest GTD PRO entry was the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with Alexander Sims clocking 1:57.672 (108.913 mph).

In continued damp but improving conditions later Saturday afternoon, the seventh and final session of the weekend was reserved for Bronze-rated drivers. That produced a handful of off-course excursions but nothing major.

Dan Goldberg led LMP2 in the seventh session in the aforementioned No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA, with a best time of 1 minute, 40.613 seconds (127.379 mph), which was ultimately the fastest lap of the day.

Anthony McIntosh (No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo) led GTD at 1:48.459 (118.164 mph) and Kenny Habul (No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3) led GTD PRO at 1:48.756 (117.841 mph).

Results are HERE