DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Cadillac rose to the top of the timing screens as temperatures rose Saturday at Daytona Int’l Speedway for the second of three days of Roar Before the Rolex 24 testing ahead of next weekend’s 64th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Filipe Albuquerque and the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R were quickest Saturday afternoon in the fourth of seven scheduled test sessions, prior to Saturday’s night session. But Albuquerque’s lap time of 1 minute, 36.731 seconds (132.491 mph) in the afternoon heat was almost two-tenths off the 1:36.549 lap (132.741 mph) turned by Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 in the day’s earlier action.
“It feels good, and we were P1 in that session,” said Albuquerque. “We’re continuing to evolve through the setup and the run plan that we have. It shows that we are doing the right things with the car but still have a lot to learn.
“The track is getting hotter and understanding how the car balance evolves is what we are targeting,” he added before preparing to head out for the only Roar session to be staged at night. “The car always comes alive in the night and it’s a dream car to drive. But the race never finishes in the night, so I think this (afternoon) was a very important session.”
Cadillac may have moved out front Saturday afternoon, but Porsche still ranked 1-2-3 when times were combined after the first four Roar sessions. Felipe Nasr, who is sharing the two-time defending Rolex 24 winning No. 7 Penske Porsche this year with Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich, turned the fastest lap thus far of the weekend (1:36.327) in Session 1 on Friday.
The No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche in the hands of Nico Pino, Tijmen van der Helm and Kaylen Frederick continues to impress, splitting the two factory Porsche Penske Motorsport entries on the combined session sheet.
A Porsche race car has claimed overall victory in the Rolex 24 a record 20 times since 1968, with four additional overall wins as an engine supplier. Most recently, Porsche has won the last two years with the No. 7 car anchored by Nasr.
He and Dane Cameron also co-drove the No. 7 Porsche to the 2024 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class championship, a feat repeated by Porsche Penske Motorsports’ No. 6 car in 2025 with drivers Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet. This year, Campbell is the Michelin Endurance Cup driver in the No. 6 with Vanthoor and Kevin Estre.
Acura and BMW are closely vying with Cadillac for second place in the overall pecking order despite a troubled couple days of testing for Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian’s No. 93 Acura ARX-06. The No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie also suffered a setback Saturday, requiring an engine change that kept it out of the afternoon session after Ross Gunn ran seventh fastest in the morning. The team was still working on it to start night practice.
Ben Hanley was the only driver to clock a sub-1:40 lap in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class Saturday as times were generally more than a second slower than Friday. Hanley lapped the 3.56-mile Daytona road course in 1:39.922 (128.260 mph) in the afternoon in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07, besting the 1:40.159 achieved by Mathias Beche in the morning in TDS Racing’s No. 11 ORECA.
Myers Riley Motorsports’ No. 16 Ford Mustang GT3 led both GT classes in both daytime sessions Saturday as the fastest of 21 Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) competitors again led all 15 entries in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) field. Felipe Fraga set the day’s GTD benchmark at 1:47.453 (119.270 mph) in the morning, while Romain Grosjean was quickest in the afternoon at 1:47.667 (119.033 mph).
Two-time IndyCar Series champion Will Power showed he’s a quick study in any environment by setting the fastest time of the day in GTD PRO in the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 at 1:47.612 (119.094 mph). Tommy Milner (No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R) moved to the front Saturday afternoon at 1:47.810 (118.876 mph).
Power, the 20-year IndyCar veteran, will make his first WeatherTech Championship start in the upcoming Rolex 24. “It’s a fun car to drive and the guys that are the top guys in these cars are incredibly fast,” Power said. “It’s been great to learn from them.”
Two GT class competitors of note encountered mechanical difficulties Saturday. The No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R missed much of the morning with a clutch problem, while AO Racing’s No. 77 “Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R sat out the afternoon while undergoing an engine change.
