On the freshly repaved circuit, Derani put down the fastest time of all drivers at 1:47.986s.
Bourdais, who led the first session at 1:49.538s, trailed Derani by over two tenths in the second practice.
After practice, Derani said: “It was a positive day for all of us at Cadillac Racing. A better order in the second practice, I would say. Jokes aside, it’s not only being quick in practice 1 and expecting to be quick in practice 2. You have to keep working on it, trying different things to find a little bit here and a little bit there. It was a good start but obviously the competition is very stiff and strong. It’s a long track and a small mistake going really quick can cost you a couple of tenths (of a second) and a position.
“Trying to put everything together is not easy and that’s why we’re trying to have a car that’s good and easier to achieve the desired lap times. At the end of the day it’s competition whether it’s’ practice or qualifying. You always want to be the quickest. Practice is very tight and we shouldn’t expect anything different in qualifying., which means that every detail is going to count.”
Several drivers found trouble as they tackled the new pavement, and both sessions were slowed by multiple red flags.
The No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA of Mikkel Jensen led LMP2 at 1:52.812s in the earlier session, but it was the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA topping the charts in the second practice at 1:52.244s.
In LMP3, the No. 30 Jr III Racing Liger swept both sessions with a fast lap of 1:58.069s, which came later in the day.
#3 Corvette Racing Corvette C8.R GTD: Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
The No. 80 AO Racing Porsche 911 led the entire GT field in FP1, lapping the circuit in 2:05.126s. He was followed close behind by the No. 32 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which topped the GTD Pro field.
In FP2, Corvette Racing asserted themselves, leading all GT drivers at 2:03.712s. The best non-pro entry was the No. 32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 at 2:04.327s.
Complete Practice #1 results can be found HERE with the full results from Practice #2 listed below.