Palou completed a lap of the 3.56-mile road course in 1m35.705s, navigating Chip Ganassi Racing’s Cadillac V-Series.R GTP entry through cold track conditions during this two-hour session held under the floodlights.
Initially, Renger van der Zande set the pace in the #01 CGR Caddy, clocking in at 1m35.895s. This was a tenth faster than Filipe Albuquerque’s #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 after the first 15 minutes. Kevin Estre’s Porsche encountered a setback as it lost a wheel, but after reattaching it and rejoining the track, Estre secured the second position with a time of 1m35.984s, trailing van der Zande by 0.089s.
In the session’s second hour, Connor De Phillippi’s #25 RLL-run BMW M Hybrid V8 temporarily claimed the second spot. However, Palou, Ganassi’s IndyCar driver, reclaimed the lead with a lap of 1m35.705s, establishing a comfortable lead of over a quarter of a second from the #25 BMW, #6 Porsche, and #10 Acura.
Palou expressed his satisfaction, saying, “I just love driving at night with the traffic in this amazing car. We turned a bunch of laps and learned a lot as we prepared for tomorrow’s qualifying and also for next week’s race. We finished up on top with the night session today, so I’m pretty happy about that.”
Jack Aitken secured the fifth position in Action Express Racing’s Cadillac, followed by Josef Newgarden’s #7 Penske Porsche, Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW), and Colton Herta (#40 WTR Acura). Gianmaria Bruni (Proton Porsche) and Tijmen van der Helm (JDC-Miller Porsche) rounded out the GTP runners.
In the LMP2 category, Scott Huffaker set the fastest time in the #20 MDK by High Class Racing ORECA with a remarkable 1m38.270s, leading the class ahead of Matthieu Vaxiviere. The GTD class saw Eddie Cheever III emerge as a surprise pacesetter in Cetilar’s pro-am Ferrari 296 with a lap of 1m45.739s, beating the Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S driven by Marvin Kirchhofer in the Pro category.
