IMSA News: Porsches run 1-2 in rain soaked Session 6 in Daytona
Proton Competition’s #5 Porsche 963 (pictured) set the fastest time in this afternoon’s rain-soaked IMSA Roar Before the 24 Session 6 at Daytona International Speedway, which was delayed 2.5 hours due to heavy rain, thunder and lightning.
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Neel Jani set the best time, a 1m45.433s, to beat the #85 JDC Miller Porsche 963 with Gianmaria Bruni at the wheel by 4/10ths of a second.
“For us, we decided to drive because we haven’t had any experience in Daytona in the wet with the car,” said Jani. “So we tried it out to see how the tires develop and gather data. In the beginning, there were dry patches but after that, it got worse. It was good to learn.
“For us, laps are laps, but next week it looks like it could be wet for qualifying day, so it could be useful.
“I think Turn 1 is definitely a tricky one in the wet, as if you cross the rubbered line it gets very slippery. That’s why you saw a lot of cars locking up under braking.”
The #31 Whelen Cadillac of Jack Aitken ended up third at 1m46.240s
The #25 RLL BMW would end up fourth while the #60 Meyer Shank Acura rounded out the top-5.
In LMP2 United Autosports USA driver Paul Di Resta put the #22 at the top with a 1m49.870s lap.
Inception Racing’s #70 Ferrari set the pace in GTD with a 1:57.033 with Ollie Millroy at the wheel. The fastest GTD Pro car – the #3 Corvette – would end up sixth in the combined ranking in a session that saw no one wanting to take too much risk for fear of crashing.