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Early Start Nets Top GT Time for No. 57 Mercedes
By John Oreovicz
Racers try to learn something new every lap, even when conditions aren’t ideal.
With the forecast for Saturday and Sunday calling for sunny skies but bitterly cold temperatures, Thursday’s soggy conditions are unlikely to be replicated during the race. But it was still an opportunity to collect data for the future.
Crucially, competitors in the GT Daytona (GTD), LMP2 and LMP3 classes had exclusive access to the Daytona road course for the first 15 minutes of the session, when conditions were at their best. The DPi and GTD PRO classes had the track to themselves for the last 15 minutes, when the track was soaked.
Not surprisingly then, a GTD entry – the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 that was the class winner in last year’s Rolex 24 – was fastest of the 35 GT cars in the field. Mikael Grenier toured the DIS road course in 1:46.577 (120.251 mph) early in the afternoon session.
“The first 15 or 20 minutes of Practice 2 was dry, and so far, our car is going well,” said Grenier, who finished second in the 2021 Rolex 24 as a co-driver of the No. 75 Sun Energy 1 Mercedes. “On the dry laps, we could learn a few things because we could try some solutions on the car when the track conditions were not too bad.
“Anything can happen, but we are quite pleased with the car so far.”
Grenier said the didn’t expect the cold conditions forecast for the race to have an effect on the drivers. Daytime high temperatures are predicted in the low 50s, with nighttime perhaps dipping into the 20s.
“The most important thing is to not get cold between the stints,” he noted. “We have to be in the pits maybe an hour before we drive, so you try not to be cold. It shouldn’t be a problem in the car. I guess the only good thing about a very cold race is it will be comfortable in the car.”
Jack Hawksworth turned the fastest lap by a GTD PRO car in Practice 2, 1:48.725 (117.875 mph) in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.
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