Acura Meyer Shank Racing Dominates Opening Day of IMSA Daytona Test
Daytona International Speedway – Acura Meyer Shank Racing showcased their prowess on the first day of the November IMSA Sanctioned Test, with the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 topping both Friday sessions.
Nick Yelloly clocked the fastest morning session time of 1:35.725, followed closely by teammate Tom Blomqvist, who recorded a 1:36.241 in the No. 60 Acura. Nico Pino in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 positioned third with a time of 1:36.631. This trio of performances outpaced notable competitors, including the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac and the No. 7 and No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s.
The morning session experienced an early interruption when the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie entered the pit lane first but triggered a red flag just four minutes in due to an electrical issue. Driver Ross Gunn noted, “We diagnosed an electrical issue… It’s better to have these things happen in testing rather than on a race weekend.”
In the afternoon session, Renger van der Zande emerged as the fastest with a 1:36.142, only a millisecond ahead of Julien Andlauer in the No. 6 Porsche, who set a time of 1:36.143. Pino again secured third-fastest, followed by Blomqvist and reigning IMSA GTP Champion Matt Campbell in fifth. The top ten was rounded out by entries from the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac, No. 25 WRT BMW, No. 10 and No. 40 WTR Cadillacs, and the No. 24 WRT BMW.
In the LMP2 category, Charles Milesi led the afternoon session for TDS Racing with a best time of 1:39.176, just 0.012 seconds ahead of Malthe Jakobsen from Crowdstrike Racing. Morning honors went to Tom Dillmann in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition car, setting a benchmark of 1:39.224.
However, the afternoon saw incidents resulting in red flags, with Misha Goikhberg (No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport) hitting the wall at turn five and Jon Field (No. 37 Intersport Racing) going off at turn two.
Testing will continue tomorrow, with all cars—including GTD PRO and GTD entries—set for three sessions from 9:00 AM–12:30 PM, 1:30 PM–6:00 PM, and 7:00 PM–9:00 PM.
