Palou lapped the 3.56-mile road course in 1m35.705s in Chip Ganassi Racing’s Cadillac V-Series.R GTP entry in cold track conditions for this two-hour session under the floodlights.
Renger van der Zande set the early pace in the #01 CGR Caddy, lapping in 1m35.895s, which was a tenth clear of Filipe Albuquerque’s #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 after 15 minutes.
Kevin Estre’s factory-entered, Penske-run Porsche lost a wheel and trundled back to the pits. With four attached once more, he rejoined the track and leapt to second, 0.089s down on van der Zande at 1m35.984s.
As the session entered its second hour, Connor De Phillippi’s #25 RLL-run BMW M Hybrid V8 jumped to second.
But just as the leading Caddy’s position came under threat, Ganassi’s IndyCar gun Palou reset the bar with a lap of 1m35.705s – putting it over a quarter of a second clear from the #25 BMW, #6 Porsche and #10 Acura.
Jack Aitken placed fifth in Action Express Racing’s Cadillac from 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.
Source: Autosport