Blomqvist Quickest in Opening Roar Session

Photo: Michelin

Tom Blomqvist set the pace for Acura Meyer Shank Racing in the first Roar Before The Rolex 24 test session on Friday.

The British racer steered the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 to a best lap of 1:35.827 in the opening, 75-minute session at Daytona International Speedway.

In the process, he outpaced the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Marco Wittmann by 0.276 seconds, with Gianmaria Bruni third behind the wheel of the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963.

Philipp Eng slotted into fourth in the second Team RLL-entered BMW, with Mathieu Jaminet rounding out the overall top five aboard the No. 6 Porsche.

CrowdStrike Racing by APR topped the LMP2 ranks, thanks to a 1:55.680 reeled off by Malthe Jakobsen at the wheel of the No. 04 Oreca 07 Gibson.

The Dane went 0.133 seconds faster than the No. 2 United Autosports car with Ben Hanley at the wheel, who led Pecom Racing’s Nicklas Nielsen and Inter Europol Competition driver Tom Dillmann.

In GTD Pro, Andrea Caldarelli posted a 1:47.626 aboard the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, just clear of the GTD-leading No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R that recorded a 1:48.652 with Rahel Frey behind the wheel.

The Swiss racer led a pair of GTD entries, with the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessandro Pier Guidi and Matt Bell’s No. 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R ahead of the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche of Klaus Bachler that went second in GTD Pro.

The session was interrupted by two red flags, both triggered by incidents at Turn 7, first caused by the No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet and then by the No. 99 AO Racing Oreca of PJ Hyett, with the latter hitting the wall and returning to the pits with damage.

The second Roar test session will kick off at 3 p.m. ET (9 p.m. CET).

Source: Sports Car 365