Tandy navigated the 3.56-mile road course in 1m35.617s, piloting the Penske-run 963 in favorable and warm track conditions within the GTP class.
The previous year’s pole time, established by Tom Blomqvist in Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura, was 1m34.031s.
Tandy exhibited early speed, recording his fastest lap in the factory-entered hybrid prototype during the initial minutes of the session. His benchmark faced a challenge in the closing moments when Augusto Farfus circuited his RLL-run BMW M Hybrid V8 in 1m35.652s, a mere 0.035s behind.
Nick Yelloly, in the sister BMW, secured the third-fastest time, just over a tenth adrift.
IndyCar champion Alex Palou impressed with the fourth spot in Chip Ganassi Racing’s Cadillac V-Series.R, trailing by just under a quarter of a second from the leading time. Jack Aitken, in the Action Express Racing Caddy, followed two tenths further behind.
Continuing the trend of quick IndyCar figures, Colton Herta outpaced Ricky Taylor to claim the fastest Acura spot, lapping his Wayne Taylor-run ARX-06 within half a second of Tandy, with Taylor Jr. a tenth further back.
Felipe Nasr (Penske Porsche) and Richard Westbrook (JDC-Miller Porsche) claimed the eighth and ninth positions, respectively. A total of 58 cars participated in the session, with the Proton Competition Porsche 963 running only in the concluding minutes under Neel Jani’s control and classified 23rd overall.
The session faced a red flag just before the 30-minute mark to clear debris at Turn 4 and was halted again with 20 minutes to go when Dennis Andersen spun his MDK by High Class Racing ORECA LMP2 car at Turn 5.
In the LMP2 category, United Autosports topped the charts, with Mikkel Jensen initially setting the pace in his No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA at 1m40.648s. However, Paul di Resta took over with the quickest lap of the class in his No. 22 United Autosports ORECA at 1m39.916s after an early off at Turn 3.
Ferdinand Habsburg came within 0.031s in his Tower Motorsports ORECA, ahead of Nicklas Nielsen’s AF Corse version.
Katherine Legge led the GTD class for Acura, setting the session’s fastest time in her No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX with a lap of 1m46.289s. She established the mark early, with Matteo Cressoni coming closest in his No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan, which led the GTD Pro category.
Nico Varrone displayed speed in AWA’s new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, securing the third-fastest time and claiming honors for the US muscle car.
The fastest of the new Ford Mustang GT3s was Frederic Vervisch, who ranked sixth, behind Andrea Caldarelli’s Lambo and Daniel Serra’s Ferrari.
Contact was reported at Turn 3 between Tommy Milner’s No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 of Albert Costa, but both vehicles continued without significant issues.
