IMSA News: Porsche 1-2-3 in Opening Roar Test Session
Porsche dominated the opening test session of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 weekend, locking out the top three positions Friday morning at Daytona International Speedway.
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Felipe Nasr (pictured) led the way in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, posting the fastest time of the 75-minute session with a 1:36.327. He edged Nico Pino in the 2025-spec JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche by a razor-thin four thousandths of a second.
Laurens Vanthoor completed the Porsche 1-2-3 in the sister No. 6 PPM entry, 0.108 seconds off Nasr’s benchmark.
The closest challenger was Louis Delétraz in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Cadillac V-Series.R, nearly six tenths adrift in fourth. Filipe Albuquerque followed in fifth aboard the No. 10 WTR Cadillac.
The two BMW M Hybrid V8s from WRT rounded out sixth and seventh, led by Marco Wittmann in the No. 24 car.
Meyer Shank Racing endured a frustrating session with its Acura ARX-06s. Technical gremlins delayed both cars until the final minutes, leaving only one with a representative time. A late push from Renger van der Zande placed the No. 93 ninth overall, 2.2 seconds off the pace—behind the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac but ahead of the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie in tenth. The No. 60 MSR Acura lagged six seconds back, trailing the entire LMP2 field.
In LMP2, Charles Milesi set the class benchmark early with a 1:38.395 in the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07-Gibson. Pietro Fittipaldi slotted the No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports entry second (1:39.137), ahead of Mikkel Jensen in the No. 2 United Autosports Oreca.
Spencer Pumpelly topped the combined GT classes in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, posting a 1:47.304 to lead GTD.
He outpaced the fastest GTD Pro car—the No. 59 Rahal Letterman Lanigan McLaren 720S GT3 Evo driven by Dean McDonald (1:47.766). Andrea Caldarelli was third overall among the GT runners in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, followed by the GTD entries of Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG and Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini.
The session’s lone red flag came with 13 minutes remaining when IndyCar star Will Power spun the No. 75 Express Mercedes-AMG at Turn 1, though he continued without damage.
Manthey’s iconic Grello-liveried No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R managed only five laps due to a persistent transponder issue.
Track action resumes with Session 2 at 4:00 p.m. ET.