The #31 Cadillac Whelen squad topped second practice for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, amid being sensationally excluded from qualifying during the session.
After taking pole position for 64th instalment of the prestigious endurance race with Jack Aitken at the wheel, the car’s skid block was found to have fallen beyond the allowed tolerance.
It now puts the car at the back of the class, leaving it starting 11th on Saturday, handing pole to the #93 Acura Meyer Shank.
News of the exclusion broke whilst the session was in its latter moments, but did not stop the car topping the time sheets for the ‘night practice,’ the fastest time of 1:35.914s set by Earl Bamber.
The Kiwi’s time was just five hundredths of a second faster than Julien Andlauer’s time in the #7 Porsche Penske, with Tom Blomqvist’s 1:36.147s enough to put the #60 Acura Meyer Shank third.
Jordan Taylor put the #60 Cadillac Wayne Taylor fourth, followed by the two BMW M Team cars, with Sheldon van der Linde’s 1:36.70s in the #24 edging the sister #25 car’s time set by Philipp Eng by a tenth-and-a-half.
Two Porsche 963s were seventh and eighth respectively, with Matt Campbell’s lap in the Porsche Penske #6 placing it ahead ahead of the JDC-Miller MotorSports #85.
The second Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing was ninth via Will Stevens’ lap, with Renger van der Zande putting the new pole-sitter car – the #93 Acura Shank Meyer – 10th.
Roman De Angelis completed the GTP class, with a 1:37.522 in the #23 Aston Martin Thor.
READ MORE – Daytona pole-sitting Cadillac loses pole due to tech infringement
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