Rolex 24 at Daytona Final Practice Recap

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — The checkered flag has dropped on final practice for the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona and it was extremely close at the sharp end of the grid.

The No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi was fastest with Mike Conway putting in a lap of 1:36.865, just .181 seconds over the No. 37 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA ORECA LMP2 machine driven by Lance Stroll. Third fastest and just .253 seconds off fastest time was the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac DPi while the No. 77 Team Joest Mazda DPi was fourth fastest, just .313 seconds off quick time.

In GTLM, Joey Hand brought the Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT to the top of the class with a lap of 1:44.062. Porsche were second and third with Gianmaria Bruni driving the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR to second and the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR in third. Richard Westbrook’s No. 67 Ford GT was fourth ahead of the No. 3 Corvette C7.R driven by Oliver Gavin.

In GTD, Matteo Cairoli was quickest in his No. 59 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 ahead of Jeroen Bleekemolen’s No. 33 Mercedes-AMG GT3. Porsche and Lamborghini were third and fourth fastest as the No. 58 Wright Motorsports 911 GT3 was ahead of the No. 19 GRT Grasser Racing Team Huracan GT3.

The full results from final practice can be viewed here.