Britain’s Alexander Sims put the #3 Pratt Miller Racing Corvette GTD Pro top of the timesheets in GT class for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Sims’ time saw him put the distance of four GTD cars between the car and the nearest challenger – Paul Miller Racing’s #1 BMW – placing it sixth overall.
The #27 Aston Martin of Heart of Racing, driven by Zachary Robichon, topped GTD and will start second overall in class.
GTD was the first class to attack the Daytona Speedway in anger this weekend, and with just 15 minutes to get the best lap in, it looked as if, with under 10 minutes to go, Robichon-driven Aston would be taking top spot.
The Canadian’s 1:45.113s separating the Ford Mustang and the Winward Racing #57 of Swiss Philip Ellis in second place by just seven hundredths of a second.
Ellis was given another lap as he crossed the line with barely a second to go before the chequered flag came out, but could not better his time.
The #96 Turner Motorsports BMW driven by Robby Foley was third, with Britain’s Charlie Eastwood – one quarter of Cadillac’s Formula 1 development squad – fourth in the #36 DXDT Racing Corvette.
Frenchman Valentin Hasse Clot put the #19 Aston Martin Vantage of van der Steur Racing fifth, with the AF Corse Ferrari #21, driven by Antonio Fuoco, was sixth.
DragonSpeed’s #81 Chevrolet was seventh, #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes was eighth, the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari ninth and the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 completing the top 10.
GTDPro was next, and the Pratt Miller Corvette #3 spent much of the 15 minutes in front. Paul Miller Racing’s #1 BMW of Neil Verhagen was the best part of two tenths adrift, with McLaren’s #59 of Neil MacDonald third, the British marque returning to the event.
And that was how it stayed, the Corvette’s 1:45.106s was enough to take top spot, the BMW’s lap better by the top four of the GTDs. The #75 75 Express Mercedes of Maro Engel – which also features IndyCar star Will Power – was fourth, with #033 Ferrari, with Alessio Rovara behind the wheel, was fifth, the top six being rounded up by Ford Racing #65, driven by Frederic Vervisch, sixth.
The GetSpeed Mercedes #69, driven by Maximilian Goetz, was seventh, followed by the second Pratt Racing Corvette – the #4 with Nicky Catsburg at the wheel – Risi Competizione’s #9 Ferrari and the #10 Luca Stolz-driven Winward Racing Mercedes.
Once shaken out, the full class results saw Corvette’s GTDPro top overall, and the remainder of the top 10 sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th.
For 2025 GTP race-winner winner Nick Tandy, it was a miserable session, his #77 AO Racing Porsche – of which he was behind the wheel – could only manage 15th place, and 25th overall.
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