Cadillac Racing set the pace on the opening day of practice for the Daytona 24 Hours, with Scott Dixon topping the first run and Alex Palou going fastest in Practice 2 in the #1 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
In Practice 1, Dixon, who joins Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and IndyCar champion Alex Palou for the race, set a 1:36.012 lap to top RLL’s #10 BMW M Hybrid V8, being driven by Connor De Phillippi, by 0.127 seconds.
Kevin Estre, Matt Payne’s partner in the 2023 Bathurst 1000, went third fastest in Porsche Penske Motorsport’s 963, topping RLL’s Dries Vanthoor in the second BMW M Hybrid V8.
Dane Cameron was fifth quickest in Porsche Penske Motorsport’s second 963, ahead of Jack Aitken, who partners Kiwi Tom Blomqvist at Whelen Cadillac Racing in the #31 V-Series.R, and Louis Delatraz of Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, who was the fastest of two Acura ARX-06 entries, in seventh.
The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura, being shared by Brendon Hartley, Ricky Taylor, Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Albuquerque, only completed 18 laps across the 90-minute session, having spent the majority of the time in the garage.
Hunter McElrea’s TDS Racing team were third quickest of the LMP2 field, while Scott McLaughlin’s Tower Motorsport were ninth.
Earl Bamber’s Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports team was eleventh of the GTD Pro class.
Palou went on to double down for Cadillac Racing in Practice 2, his 1:35.589 bettering Porsche Penske’s Felipe Nasr by 0.135 seconds and Proton Competition’s Alessio Picariello (Porsche 963) by 0.165 seconds.
Earlier in the session, van der Zande had also set a flying lap of 1:35.670, remaining at the top until his teammate’s late time.
Blomqvist’s Whelan Cadillac Racing team were fourth quickest, while Hartley’s team went eighth fastest, completing 28 laps.
Tower Motorsports was the fourth fastest on the LMP2 field, while TDS Racing was thirteenth. Corvette Racing was fifth in the GTD Pro field.
Blomqvist’s team will start on pole for the race, with Dixon’s Cadillac Racing beginning on the front row.
Header Image: Cadillac Racing
