Chip Ganassi’s Renger van der Zande was fastest in final free practice for the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 27th running of Petit Le Mans.
Ninety minutes for FP3 took place from 7.30 pm local time, replicating the evening-night conditions in the ultimate portion of the race.
Besides the factor of limited visibility, the darkness at Road Atlanta requires drivers to maintain focus and execute their braking points.
A record number of 54 cars, compared to 52 last year, will be entering the 11th and final round of the 2024 IMSA season.
As a result, drivers face their own traffic management-related challenges with various class championship titles at risk.
A red flag concerning the #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R & the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, having made contact at Turn 4 which put the #3 out of action.
The test car in the Corvette programme is being driven overnight from Detroit as a replacement.
The second red flag was for the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 after it went briefly off at Turn 2.
The #01 Chip Ganassi-run Cadillac topped the time sheets for the second time after doing so in FP1.
Van der Zande set a 1:11.626 which was just ahead of the #63 Lamborghini of Andrea Caldarelli, who set a 1:11.988.
Championship leaders, the #7 Porsche Penske 963, claimed third place with Felipe Nasr’s 1:11.997 lap time.
Augusto Farfus put the #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 in fourth place after he set a fastest time of 1:12.009, as Mathieu Jaminet rounded out the top-five in the other #6 Porsche Penske.
In the LMP2 category of Oreca 07 machinery, Ben Hanley was fastest in the #2 United Autosports USA car after he set a 1:13.178.
Tom Dillmann put the #52 Inter Europol by PR1 entrant in second, followed by Peugeot Hypercar driver Mikkel Jensen (#11 TDS Racing) in third.
Turner Motorsport fastest in combined GT order
In the combined GTD and GTD Pro fields, Robby Foley put the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 at the top.
His fastest lap time was a 1:19.195 which also put the #96 BMW ahead of the GTD Pro cars.
Laurin Heinrich in the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R championship-leaders took second with a 1:19.273 on the timesheets.
Behind ‘Rexy’ was the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Madison Snow after he completed a time of 1:19.317.
Nicky Catsburg, of the #4 Corvette, ended up third-quickest in the GTD Pro category from his 1:19.377 time.
Sixth fastest in the combined order, and second in GTD, was Klaus Bachler’s #86 MDK Motorsports Porsche having set a time of 1:19.430.
Bronze-graded driver Simon Mann claimed third behind the wheel of the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.
His quickest lap time was a 1:19.489.
Qualifying will take place at 3.25pm local time, or 8.25pm BST, on Friday 11 October.
SEE MORE: The full classification of results from free practice 3 as part of the 11th IMSA round of 2024
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