Rebellion stays top, Dixon sends Ford to P1 in GTLM

The Roar Before the 24 is the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's official test in preparation for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona later this month.

Jani, defending FIA World Endurance Champion for Porsche, reeled off a best lap of 1:38.944 in the 90-minute night session at Daytona International Speedway to go quickest of the day in the #13 Oreca 07 Gibson. It trimmed two-tenths from his Friday time, as he remained the team’s sole representative as his co-drivers were occupied with the Las Vegas eRace.

There was, however, excellent news for Mazda, as the #55 RT24-P Riley ended the day second quickest overall, thanks to Tristan Nunez’s 1:39.157 lap time set in the afternoon session. Ben Hanley was third on the time sheets in the DragonSpeed Oreca, with the JDC-Miller Motorsports entry making it three Gibson-powered Orecas in the top four.

The Wayne Taylor Racing entry was quickest of the Cadillac DPi-V.Rs in sixth, a half-second behind the pace-setting LMP2 car, thanks to Jordan Taylor’s effort. In the wet morning session, his brother Ricky Taylor had set fastest time.

Two late-session red flags occurred during the 90-minute night session, the first caused by Joao Barbosa losing drive in his #5 Action Express Cadillac and stopping on track, the second occurring when the GTLM #911 Porsche 911 RSR and the GTD Aston Martin Vantage collided. Patrick Pilet’s Porsche sustained left-front suspension damage in the incident and did not return to action.

That #98 Aston will feature newly crowned WEC GTE Pro champion Marco Sorensen, partnering Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy. The Dane, who will be making his Rolex 24 debut, replaces Nicki Thiim due to the latter’s new Platinum driver rating.

In GT Le Mans, Scott Dixon led the way in the #67 Ford GT, thanks to a 1:44.558, which was set in the afternoon session.

The Kiwi was two-tenths quicker than Jan Magnussen’s class pace-setting time set on Friday in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R.

The No. 38 Performance Tech Oreca FLM09 topped Prototype Challenge, after returning to action following an accident on Friday.

GT Daytona, meanwhile, was led by the No. 29 Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS, thanks to a 1:47.723 lap from Christopher Mies.

There will be two test sessions on Sunday to end the Roar Before the 24.