Albuquerque lapped the 12-turn 3.56-mile course in 1min34.947sec to pull a 0.4sec margin over the fastest of the opposition. That accolade went to Michelin Endurance Cup driver Mike Conway, whose Action Express Racing entry became the first Cadillac DPi-V.R to break the Acura domination at the top of the times this weekend.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura, in the hands of Helio Castroneves who won this race with WTR last year, was third fastest ahead of Sebastien Bourdais in the quicker of the two Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillacs and Mike Rockenfeller in the second AXR Caddy.
IndyCar race winner Marcus Ericsson in the new #02 Ganassi entry was sixth ahead of Richard Westbrook, JDC-Miller MotorSports' newest recruit.
But Westbrook’s best effort was marginally slower than the fastest LMP2 car, the Tower Motorsport Oreca pedaled by Ferdinand Habsburg, who lapped in 1min36.710.
Fabio Scherer was second in High Class Racing’s entry, while Nicolas Lapierre and Jonathan Bomarito were half a tenth apart in the two PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entries, followed by IndyCar ace Pato O’Ward in the DragonSpeed entry.
Seb Priaulx, an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debutant, was top of the LMP3 entries in the Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier, while Ugo de Wilde was second in the Duqueine of Muehlner Motorsports, and former Indy Lights champion Gabby Chaves put Andretti Autosport into third place.
Dirk Muller led GTD Pro in the Proton Mercedes-AMG GT3, although he was two-tenths off the best GTD time, set by David Pittard in the Northwest AMR Aston Martin Vantage.
Next up in Pro was Alessio Picariello in the Proton-operated WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, followed by Denis Olsen in the similar car of KCMG, Ben Barnicoat in the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F and Rolf Ineichen’s TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan.
In GTD, Pittard was a quarter second clear of Giacomo Altoe’s TR3 Lamborghini, Klaus Bachler’s GMG Racing Porsche, Andy Lally’s Magnus Racing Aston Martin and Paul Holton in Crucial Motorsports’ McLaren 720S.
Two of the red flags were caused by Gradient Racing’s Acura NSX, the first time when it came to a halt at pit exit, and the second around 20mins later when it came to a more abrupt halt in an accident. The driver was unhurt but the damage was severe enough that the car never re-emerged from the paddock.
The other two reds were halts for the LMP3 cars of Forty7 Motorsports and Performance Tech Motorsports.
Qualifying for Sunday’s qualifying race for next week’s Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona will begin at 3.25pm ET, while evening practice commences at 7.00pm ET.
| Cla | Driver | Class | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Ricky Taylor  Filipe Albuquerque Alexander Rossi  Will Stevens
| DPi | Acura DPi | 17 | 1'34.947 | |
| 2 |
 Pipo Derani Tristan Nunez Mike Conway
| DPi | Cadillac DPi | 10 | 1'35.351 | 0.404 |
| 3 |
Oliver Jarvis Tom Blomqvist Helio Castroneves  Simon Pagenaud
| DPi | Acura DPi | 15 | 1'36.047 | 1.100 |
| 4 |
 Renger van der Zande Sébastien Bourdais  Scott Dixon  Alex Palou
| DPi | Cadillac DPi | 17 | 1'36.090 | 1.143 |
| 5 |
Jimmie Johnson  Kamui Kobayashi  Mike Rockenfeller  Jose Maria Lopez
| DPi | Cadillac DPi | 9 | 1'36.292 | 1.345 |
| 6 |
Earl Bamber Alex Lynn  Marcus Ericsson  Kevin Magnussen
| DPi | Cadillac DPi | 16 | 1'36.542 | 1.595 |
| 7 |
 John Farano  Louis Deletraz Rui Pinto  Ferdinand Habsburg
| LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 14 | 1'36.710 | 1.763 |
| 8 |
Tristan Vautier Richard Westbrook Loic Duval Ben Keating
| DPi | Cadillac DPi | 16 | 1'36.830 | 1.883 |
| 9 |
Dennis Andersen Anders Fjordbach Fabio Scherer Nico Mueller | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 17 | 1'36.950 | 2.003 |
| 10 |
Ben Keating Mikkel Jensen Scott Huffaker Nicolas Lapierre
| LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 16 | 1'38.152 | 3.205 |
| 11 |
Thomas Steven Josh Pierson Jonathan Bomarito Harry Tincknell
| LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 16 | 1'38.206 | 3.259 |
| 12 |
Eric Lux Devlin DeFrancesco  Patricio O'Ward Colton Herta
| LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 17 | 1'38.598 | 3.651 |
| 13 |
Dwight Merriman Kyle Tilley Ryan Dalziel Paul-Loup Chatin
| LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 13 | 1'39.297 | 4.350 |
| 14 |
François Heriau Oliver Rasmussen  Ed Jones René Rast
| LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 14 | 1'40.595 | 5.648 |
| 15 |
Joao Barbosa Malthe Jakobsen Seb Priaulx Lance Willsey
| LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 9 | 1'43.395 | 8.448 |
| 16 |
Nolan Siegel  Cameron Shields Charles Crews Ugo De | LMP3 | Duqueine D08 | 19 | 1'43.983 | 9.036 |
| 17 |
Jarett Andretti Josh Burdon Rasmus Lindh  Gabby Chaves
| LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 8 | 1'44.518 | 9.571 |
| 18 |
Gar Robinson Felipe Fraga Kay van Berlo Michael Cooper
| LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 9 | 1'44.680 | 9.733 |
| 19 |
Orey Fidani Kuno Wittmer Lars Kern Matthew Bell
| LMP3 | Duqueine D08 | 9 | 1'44.820 | 9.873 |
| 20 |
Efrin Castro Moritz Kranz Ori Ayrton Joel Miller
| LMP3 | Duqueine D08 | 18 | 1'45.239 | 10.292 |
| 21 |
Jon Bennett Colin Braun George Kurtz Nic Jönsson
| LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 11 | 1'45.325 | 10.378 |
| 22 |
Dan Goldburg Hikaru Abe Garett Grist Nicolas Pino | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 15 | 1'45.414 | 10.467 |
| 23 |
Jim McGuire Guy Smith Philip Hanson Will Owen
| LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 8 | 1'45.593 | 10.646 |
| 24 |
Paul Dalla Lana David Pittard Charlie Eastwood Nicki Thiim
| GTD | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 9 | 1'46.345 | 11.398 |
| 25 |
Dirk Muller Patrick Assenheimer Austin Cindric
| GTD PRO | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 16 | 1'46.543 | 11.596 |
| 26 |
Bill Sweedler John Megrue  Giacomo Altoè Jeff Segal
| GTD | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 9 | 1'46.589 | 11.642 |
| 27 |
Cooper MacNeil Julien Andlauer Matteo Cairoli  Alessio Picariello
| GTD PRO | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 13 | 1'46.652 | 11.705 |
| 28 |
Kyle Washington James Sofronas Jeroen Bleekemolen Klaus Bachler
| GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 5 | 1'46.709 | 11.762 |
| 29 |
Laurens Vanthoor Patrick Pilet  Dennis Olsen Alexandre Imperatori
| GTD PRO | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 15 | 1'46.731 | 11.784 |
| 30 |
John Potter Andy Lally Spencer Pumpelly Jonathan Adam
| GTD | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 14 | 1'46.777 | 11.830 |
| 31 |
Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat Kyle Kirkwood
| GTD PRO | Lexus RC F GT3 | 11 | 1'46.837 | 11.890 |
| 32 |
Marco Mapelli Andrea Caldarelli Mirko Bortolotti Rolf Ineichen
| GTD PRO | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 13 | 1'46.930 | 11.983 |
| 33 |
Lance Bergstein Jon Miller Patrick Gallagher Paul Holton
| GTD | McLaren 720S GT3 | 8 | 1'46.993 | 12.046 |
| 34 |
Franck Perera LLarena Mateo Paul Maximilian Mikhail Goikhberg
| GTD | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 16 | 1'47.010 | 12.063 |
| 35 |
Cooper MacNeil Daniel Juncadella Maro Engel Jules Gounon
| GTD PRO | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 8 | 1'47.205 | 12.258 |
| 36 |
Ted Giovanis Hugh Plumb Matt Plumb Owen Trinkler
| GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 9 | 1'47.423 | 12.476 |
| 37 |
Ryan Hardwick Zacharie Robichon Jan Heylen Richard Lietz
| GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 14 | 1'47.533 | 12.586 |
| 38 |
Don Yount Benja Hites Jaden Conwright  Markus Palttala
| GTD | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 12 | 1'47.621 | 12.674 |
| 39 |
Michael de Quesada Daniel Morad Linus Lundqvist Maximillian Goetz | GTD | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 15 | 1'47.635 | 12.688 |
| 40 |
Robert Megennis Corey Lewis Sandy Mitchell Jeff Westphal
| GTD | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 15 | 1'47.668 | 12.721 |
| 41 |
Matt Campbell Mathieu Jaminet Felipe Nasr
| GTD PRO | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 14 | 1'47.709 | 12.762 |
| 42 |
Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz Richard Heistand Townsend Bell
| GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | 9 | 1'47.791 | 12.844 |
| 43 |
Brendan Iribe Frederik Schandorff Ollie Millroy  Jordan Lee Pepper
| GTD | McLaren 720S GT3 | 14 | 1'47.877 | 12.930 |
| 44 |
Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado Daniel Serra Davide Rigon
| GTD PRO | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 7 | 1'47.954 | 13.007 |
| 45 |
Russell Ward Philip Ellis Mikael Grenier Lucas Auer
| GTD | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 13 | 1'48.196 | 13.249 |
| 46 |
Ross Gunn Alex Riberas Maxime Martin
| GTD PRO | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 7 | 1'48.294 | 13.347 |
| 47 |
Rob Ferriol Katherine Legge Stefan Wilson Nicholas Boulle
| GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 17 | 1'48.306 | 13.359 |
| 48 |
Mike Skeen Guy Cosmo Stevan McAleer Scott Andrews
| GTD | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 16 | 1'48.324 | 13.377 |
| 49 |
Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto Antonio Fuoco Alessio Rovera
| GTD | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 15 | 1'48.346 | 13.399 |
| 50 |
Kyffin Simpson Till Bechtolsheimer Marc Miller Mario Farnbacher
| GTD | Acura NSX GT3 | 7 | 1'48.603 | 13.656 |
| 51 |
Mark Kvamme Austin McCusker Trenton Estep Antoine Doquin | LMP3 | Duqueine D08 | 15 | 1'49.044 | 14.097 |
| 52 |
Connor de Phillippi John Edwards Augusto Farfus Jesse Krohn
| GTD PRO | BMW M4 GT3 | 11 | 1'49.440 | 14.493 |
| 53 |
Roman De Angelis Ian James Darren Turner Tom Gamble | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 8 | 1'50.286 | 15.339 |
| 54 |
Tommy Milner Nick Tandy Marco Sorensen
| GTD PRO | Corvette C8.R GTD | 15 | 1'50.327 | 15.380 |
| 55 |
Philipp Eng Marco Wittmann Nick Yelloly Sheldon Van Der Linde
| GTD PRO | BMW M4 GT3 | 10 | 1'50.502 | 15.555 |
| 56 |
Mann Simon Luis Perez Companc Nicklas Nielsen Toni Vilander
| GTD | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 12 | 1'50.633 | 15.686 |
| 57 |
Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor Nick Catsburg
| GTD PRO | Corvette C8.R GTD | 15 | 1'50.738 | 15.791 |
| 58 |
Robby Foley Bill Auberlen Michael Dinan Jens Klingmann
| GTD | BMW M4 GT3 | 11 | 1'51.163 | 16.216 |
| 59 |
John Falb James Allen Luca Ghiotto Tijmen van | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 9 | 1'52.850 | 17.903 |
| 60 |
Frits van Eerd Giedo van der Garde Murry Dylan Rinus van Kalmthout
| LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 5 | 1'53.699 | 18.752 |
| 61 |
Kenny Habul Luca Stolz Raffaele Marciello Fabian Schiller
| GTD | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 8 | 1'57.822 | 22.875 |
| View full results | ||||||
