Lapping the course in 1min34.351sec, Blomqvist eclipsed by over three-tenths of a second the best efforts of Filipe Albuquerque in the similar Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 that had led opening practice.
Next up was impressive Daytona debutant, reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou in the #01 Cadillac DPi-V.R of Chip Ganassi Racing, which headed the sister car of #02 fulltimer Earl Bamber by just three hundredths.
This pair were more than four-tenths of a second clear of the next best Caddy, the JDC-Miller MotorSports machine driven by Tristan Vautier, while Action Express Cadillac pair Tristan Nunez and Jimmie Johnson were sixth and seventh.
Rene Rast headed LMP2 in the G-Drive Racing by APR Oreca, within two tenths of slowest DPi time, and less than 1.6sec off Blomqvist’s top time. Fabio Scherer of High Class Racing was next up, ahead of Mikkel Jensen in one of PR1/Mathiasen Motorsport’s cars, and Louis Deletraz of Tower Motorsport.
IndyCar stars Rinus VeeKay of Racing Team Nederland, and Colton Herta in the DragonSpeed entry were fifth and eighth respectively.
Malthe Jacobsen propelled Sean Creech Motorsport’s Ligier to the top of LMP3, a couple of tenths faster than CORE autosport’s reliable ace Colin Braun. Felipe Fraga in the Riley Motorsports car was third, narrowly edging Gabby Chaves in the Andretti Autosport car. The fastest Duqueine driver was fifth, namely Ugo de Wilde in the Muehlner Motorsports entry.
Unlike in FP1, a GTD Pro car topped the GT times, Mirko Bortolotti lapping his TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan in 1min46.516sec, one tenth faster than the fastest GTD car, the Sun Energy 1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 piloted by Raffaele Marciello.
Matthieu Jaminet slotted the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R into third fastest (second in GTD Pro) while Winward Racing’s Mikael Grenier and Alegra Motorsports’ Maxi Goetz were next in a pair of Mercedes.
Laurens Vanthoor’s best effort in the KCMG Porsche left him third in GTD Pro, chased by Crucial Motorsports’ McLaren 720S and Magnus Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage.
Third practice begins at 10am local (Eastern) time.
- Rolex 24: WTR leads Acura 1-2 in opening practice at Daytona