DAYTONA BEACH — So much for the peace and quiet.

Around here, that's a good thing, because fast cars, and the roaring engines that make them fast, put us on the map.

Appropriately, they call it the "Roar." In the jungle, it signals potential action of an unwelcome sort. Here, it signals action and maybe a whiff of danger, but mostly it trumpets the beginning of a new year of auto racing.

The 62nd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona next weekend (Jan. 27-28) jumpstarts the international season. But first, there are three days of ultimate shakedown efforts as 59 teams prep their machinery for the 24-hour endurance classic — "Roar Before the Rolex 24," it's called on the official literature and T-shirts at Daytona International Speedway.

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A bit of background before we hit the ignition ...

The Rolex 24 is sanctioned and operated by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), the sports-car arm of Daytona Beach-based NASCAR. IMSA's marquee series is its WeatherTech Championship, which includes four classes of cars competing in the Rolex 24 and throughout the 2024 season.

But IMSA also sanctions two "minor league" circuits — the Michelin Pilot Challenge and the VP Racing Challenge. The Michelin Series will test this weekend in advance of its four-hour season opener next Friday. The VP Series actually opens its season with a pair of 45-minute races this weekend — one Saturday and one Sunday.

The VP Series gets things started this morning at 8:45, triggering a day of testing that lasts until dinner time.

Pipo Derani, Cadillac top leaderboard to finish Day 1

Driving the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing entry, Pipo Derani laid down a lap of 1:35.217 late in Friday evening's final practice, accounting for the fastest lap of the day. It closed the first day of the Roar Before the Rolex 24.

Derani's lap unseated a lap of 1:35.594 from Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW, backing up a strong showing in the morning session with the two RLL BMW's finishing with the second- and third-best laps.

In the LMP2 class, Dwight Merriman set the pace in the No. 18 Era Motorsport entry with a time of 1:39.674. Christopher Mies set the pace among the GTD Pro/GTD classes with a time of 1:46.494 in the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang.

Racing gets back underway at Daytona International Speedway with a VP SportsCar Challenge practice beginning at 8:40 a.m. on Saturday. The first race of the year and the first of two in the Challenge will also held on Saturday with the 45-minute event set for a 2:05 p.m. green flag.

In addition to that, three practices in the WeatherTech Championship fill Saturday's schedule, starting at 11:15 a.m., 3:10 and 6:15 p.m.

WeatherTech Championship final practice leaderboard

GTP: 1. Pipo Derani, No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, 1:35.217; 2. Connor De Phillippi, BMW M Team RLL, 1:35.594; 3. Nick Tandy, No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963, 1:35.721

LMP2: 1. Dwight Merriman, No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2, 1:39.674; 2. Jonny Edgar, No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier LMP2; 3. Lijou Wadoux Ducellier, No. 88 Richard Mille AF Corse ORECA LMP2, 1:40.027

GTD Pro: 1. Christopher Mies, No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang, 1:46.494; 2. Davide Rigon, No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari, 1:46.76; 3. Daniel Juncadella, No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, 1:46.971

GTD: 1. Elliott Skeer, No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche, 1:46.741; 2. Albert Costa Barboa, No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari, 1:46.894; 3. David Brule, No. 92 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche, 1:46.98

No seat time for Bubba Wallace

Events beyond Bubba Wallace's control continued to keep him from the first sports-car laps of his career.

Bubba is co-driving a Toyota Supra with fellow NASCAR racers John Hunter Nemechek and Corey Heim. They're entered in next Friday's BMW Endurance Classic, the four-hour season opener for IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge circuit. The car is part of a two-car effort from Smooge Racing.

The car was hampered by engine issues in Friday morning's first practice session before Bubba could take his turn. In the afternoon session, a loose front splitter came apart from the car, was damaged, and ended the team's run after just two laps.

The Michelin series has two more stints scheduled Friday, starting at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Cody Ware, Steven Aghakhani pace VP SportsCar Challenge practices

Steven Aghakhani topped the board in the second of two VP SportsCar Challenge practices on Friday, setting a time of 1:44.825, the fastest lap of either session.

NASCAR driver Cody Ware was second in the afternoon practice after winning the morning's first session with a time of 1:45.918.

The VP SportsCar Challenge debuted a year ago and is comprised of LMP3 and GTD entries. The only races of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 weekend will take place in the Challenge with one scheduled for 2:05 on Saturday afternoon and the other slated for a 12:20 p.m. start on Sunday.

WeatherTech Championship practice leaderboard: Session 1

GTP Class

LMP2 Class

GTD Pro Class

GTD Class

Penske power at full throttle in opening Rolex 24 session at Daytona

The No. 6 Porsche prototype of Penske Motorsport turned the fastest lap in Friday's first 90-minute test session for next week's Rolex 24 At Daytona.

With Laurens Vanthoor aboard, the No. 6 car turned a fastest lap of 1 minute, 35.617 seconds around the 3.56-mile Daytona road course.

Next fastest were a pair of BMW prototypes fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: The No. 24 with Augusto Farfus driving (1:35.652) and the No. 25 with Nick Yellely at the wheel (1:35.753).

The fastest GTP cars were more than 4 seconds faster than the next quickest class of cars — the LMP2 class. The fastest GTD cars, an Acura in GTD and Lamborghini in GTD Pro, were another 7 seconds off the LMP2 pace.

Bubba Wallace due to get laps this afternoon

The second session for the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series is scheduled for 2:30-4 this afternoon. Among those expected to turn laps is NASCAR racer Bubba Wallace, in the No. 23 Toyota Supra of Smooge Racing. That car was hampered by turbo issues in the morning session and Wallace hasn't gotten any time behind the wheel yet.

ROLEX 24 TESTING: Bubba Wallace at Daytona in a sports car; 'any seat time is good seat time'

Rolex 24 cars open first Daytona test session

The 59-car field for next week's Rolex 24 has taken the green flag on a 90-minute test session.

The field is broken into four classes: GTP (the prototypes), LMP2 (second-level prototypes), GTD (Corvette, Porsche, Lamborghini, etc.) and GTD Pro, which differentiates itself from GTD by employing only upper-tier professional drivers.

Cars on the track at Daytona

IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge Series precedes the Rolex 24 on the big race weekend, and does the same on Roar weekend.

The field for next Friday's BMW Endurance Challenge has the track from 9:30-10:45 a.m., followed by the first 2024 test session for the marquee WeatherTech Championship Series, which begins the year with a 59-car field for the Rolex 24, Jan. 27-28.

Roar Before the Rolex 24 schedule for Friday

8:45-9:15 a.m.: VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, practice 1

9:30-10:45: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 1

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: WeatherTech Championship, practice 1

1:45-2:15: VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, practice 2

2:30-4: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 2

4:15-6: WeatherTech Championship, practice 2

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Rolex 24 testing at Daytona; Porsche, Cadillac top two practices