Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac finished fastest in Practice 3 to end Thursday’s activities ahead of the 12 Hours of Sebring.
As it was in Practice 1 this afternoon, the #01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R went fastest in GTP, with Renger van der Zande setting a 1:49.179.
He was almost three-tenths clear of Augusto Farfus in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 who put in a late flyer to finish the session in second.
Filipe Albuquerque was third in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 – though, we didn’t see the black and red #40 as it was undergoing an engine change.
Tom Blomqvist was fourth-fastest in the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, followed by Mathieu Jaminet in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 in fifth. The #63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx SC63 was eighth-quickest in the hands of Andrea Caldarelli.
LMP2 was led by the #11 TDS Racing ORECA 07-Gibson. Practice 1 leader Mikkel Jensen set a 1:51.497 to lead the way, ahead of “Spike the LMP2 Dragon”, the #99 AO Racing ORECA of Paul-Loup Chatin.
Ben Hanley was third in the purple #2 United Autosports USA ORECA.
However, a late incident at the entrance of Sunset Bend brought a premature end to night practice – as Colin Braun in the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA had to avoid traffic in front of him, he lost the rear of the car and spun tail-first into the tyre barriers. Braun walked away but the session was red-flagged and finished with less than four minutes to go.
LMP2 cars also brought out the other two red flags in this session but both were minor – the #33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier JS P217 stopped at turn eight very early on, but the car was recoverable. The #52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA spilled what appeared to be sand along the racing line at Big Bend (turn six) after an off-track excursion.
Fastest in GTD Pro was the #4 Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with Earl Bamber setting a 2:00.790 aboard the gold-foil ‘Vette.
BMW youngster Neil Verhagen was second-fastest in the #1 Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3, in third was Laurin Heinrich in the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.
In GTD, Antonio Fuoco was fastest in class, the Ferrari Hypercar star set a 2:00.991 to lead the way in the #47 Cetilar Racing 296 GT3.
Behind him were Daytona 24H class winner Philip Ellis in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, and Elliott Skeer in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche, second and third respectively in the class.
Qualifying for the 72nd Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring starts at 12:50 PM EDT (local time).
Feature image © Jack Webster / Dailysportscar.com
