WTR Acura, Proton Mercedes lead wet third Roar practice
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Richard S. James | January 22, 2022 11:44 AM ET
In a half-soaked session that signified little but may have given the teams the opportunity to test the conditions in which qualifying for tomorrow’s 100-minute Rolex 24 qualifying race will be run, Filipe Albuquerque set the quick time for the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura.
The third practice session of the Roar Before the 24 weekend was hit by a sprinkle of rain after most cars had only put in less than 10 laps. That halted any further fast laps. But as teams may face similar conditions for this afternoon’s qualifying session that will set the grid for the qualifying race, it was a chance to get some useful information for the drivers and engineers. Several teams, though, chose to sit the remainder of the session out. Any information gained about running in the wet appears to be of limited use at the moment, as the forecast for tomorrow and and next weekend shows a low chance for rain.
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Mike Rockenfeller was able to turn a quick lap in the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac to split the Acuras, relegating Helio Castroneves and the Meyer Shank Acura to third. The other class leaders were Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen in the No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2; Seb Priaulx in the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier in LMP3; Dirk Mueller in the No. 15 Proton USA Mercedes-AMG in GTD Pro; and David Pittard in the No. 98 Northwest AMR Aston Martin in GTD.
The session was marked by several red flags, the most serious for Kyffin Simpson putting the No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX into the wall at Turn 5, after he was caught out on slicks as the rain intensified. The incident damaged the right-rear corner of the car, and the team will miss this afternoon’s qualifying and possibly tomorrow’s qualifying race.