Rolex 24 testing at Daytona concludes; Acura roars to the pole | LIVE UPDATES

DAYTONA BEACH — After a two-hour Saturday night session in the rain, the 61 entries for the Rolex 24 will enjoy warmer and much drier conditions for the weekend's main event: This afternoon's qualifying to set the field for next weekend's twice-around-the-clock endurance classic.

There will be one final shakedown stint for IMSA's preseason testing — a one-hour session for the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series, starting at 10:15 a.m., as that league's cars continue prep for Friday's four-hour season opener during Rolex weekend.

Next up will be the second of two weekend races for IMSA's VP Challenge circuit, a 45-minute affair starting at 12:20 this afternoon.

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All that remains, following that race, is the job of setting the starting lineup for the 61st Rolex 24. The 15-minute qualifying sessions will be divided by car class.

1:25 p.m.: GTD and GTD Pro.

1:50: LMP3.

2:15: LMP2.

2:40: GTP prototypes.

Qualifying ends: Meyer Shank Acura on the pole for 61st Rolex 24 at Daytona

The preseason "Roar Before the Rolex 24" is over, qualifying is complete and the field is set for all five classes of the 61th Rolex 24, next Saturday-Sunday at Daytona.

As expected, the GTP prototypes set the pace and were some six seconds ahead of the next fastest class, LMP2. Tom Blomqvist, in the No. 60 Acura prepped by Meyer Shank Racing, finished his fastest lap a tenth of a second quicker than runner-up Felipe Nasr, in the No. 7 Porsche from the Roger Penske stable.

Blomqvist’s lap was three thousandths of a second faster than last year’s pole speed in the former prototype class, DPi.

Here are the pole winners for each class:

GTP: No. 60 Acura, Tom Blomqvist driving (1:34.031).

GTD: No. 57 Mercedes AMG, Philip Ellis driving (1:46.093).

GTD Pro: No. 79 Mercedes AMG, Maro Engel driving (1:46.784).

LMP3: No. 33 Ligier, Nico Pino driving (1:43.197).

LMP2: No. 52 Oreca, Ben Keating driving (1:40.541).

'Check, check . . . 1-2': IMSA gives GTP cars an additional 15-minute practice session for 'systems check'

IMSA has given its marquee GTP division an additional and previously unscheduled 15-minute test session, from 1:25 to 1:40 p.m.

Officials said the extra time was for a "systems check" ahead of this afternoon's qualifying. The new prototypes are considered the most complicated race cars in North American racing history, so a systems check is likely welcome at any time by the nine competing cars in that class.

Goldburg, Griffin win again in VP Challenge

Dan Goldburg and Billy Griffin made it a weekend sweep in the VP SportsCar Challenge at Daytona.

Coming off overall and class wins Saturday, Goldburg and Griffin won again in Sunday’s 45-minute capper to the doubleheader weekend. Goldburg won overall in his LMP3 Duqueine, finishing 23 seconds ahead of Brian Thienes in a Ligier.

Griffin won the 15-car GSX class in a Ford Mustang, 13 seconds ahead of Moisey Uretsky in an Aston Martin.

Michelin testing complete, VP Challenge race is next

The fifth and final test session for IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge Series is complete. The Porsche 718 of Black Swan Racing produced the quickest lap, turning the 3.56-mile road course in 1:52.636.

Seven Porsches and two Ford Mustangs made up the top nine on the closing speed chart.

The Audi RS3 of Road Shagger Racing was fastest among the TCR class, with a time of 1:59.606.

Next up is the second and final 45-minute race for the VP Challenge Series, from 12:20 to 1:05, followed by WeatherTech Championship qualifying, from 1:25 to 3, to set the field for next Saturday-Sunday's Rolex 24 at Daytona.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: LIVE UPDATES from Daytona and Rolex 24 qualifying