The second Free practice session for the ALMS started in a thunderstorm and with very little action on track, just a handful of cars venturing out at first with Andy Lally and Jon Bennet the men with the most obviously developed cojones!
As the rain eased off though so we saw others taking look at conditions out there but most opted to scout the conditions and there were very few ‘flying’ lap times set in the first 25 minutes of the 60 minute session, Wolf Henzler setting the ultimate pace with a 2:24.079 from the Falken Porsche.
By the halfway mark Guy Cosmo was down into the 2:22s (2:22.471 in the #552 Level 5 HPD) ahead of seven GT runners with Henzler’s early effort still the quickest.
Renger van der Zande though seemed to be having fun out there and first went to the top of the timing screen by a tenth or two in the #81 Dragonspeed LMPC Oreca and then stretched his advantage to a couple of seconds – 2:20.294
Dominik Farnbacher meanwhile moved to the top of the GT ranking for a while before Corvette’s new Aston Martin ‘loaner’ Oliver Gavin put his regular ride, the #4 Corvette, into the 2:21s (2:21.003) just ahead of an improving Colin Braun in the Core Porsche.
24 minutes to go and Marino Franchitti took over driving duties in the #552 HPD just as Tristan Nunez put the #18 Performance Tech LMPC fourth fastest overall (Gavin still second in the standings)
John Edwards was the next man to show, and show he did, the #56 BMW fastest overall with a 2:19.802, that lasted mere moments before Franchitti powered over the line in 2:18.831, the weather still atrocious out there.
Fourth fastest by now was Katherine Legge in the Deltawing Coupe, but that became fifth as Joey Hand put the #55 BMW on top – 2:18.359, ahead of the first effort posted by Lucas Luhr.
With 17 minutes remaining we had a new name at the top of the screen – Anthony Lazzaro going top in the #01 ESM HPD (2:17.726) – but his was a short residency, with Lucas Luhr bettering that time by two-thirds of a second in the #6 Muscle Milk HPD. Johannes van Overbeek joined his ESM colleague in the top three when he posted a 2:18.188 a couple of minutes later.
But conditions were starting to improve rapidly, with Luhr improving his time to 2:12.683 and Legge taking the DeltaWing to third on 2:17.777. Guy Cosmo, meanwhile, was rising up the order in the #552 Level5 HPD, going sixth fastest with ten to go and jumping to second a lap later with a 2:14.542.
Four minutes of the session remaining and Marco Holzer was improving in the #48 Paul Miller Porsche, third fastest in GT, four tenths back from Edwards’ BMW.
But with qualifying looming, and the rain stopping on the paddock end of the circuit at leat – That was it – ALMS Qualifying next in a continually rapid fire weekend.
GG/ MH
