Times tumbled in morning practice as teams prepared for the afternoon qualifying session. Cooler temperatures and greater knowledge produced speed in both GTLM and GTD classes.
Bill Auberlen took his #25 BMW Z4 to the sub 1:42 range, the only car to go below that mark. Nick Tandy in the Porsche and John Edwards in the sister BMW were second and third. Seven of the eight GTLM cars eclipsed the 2014 pole track record time. Although the afternoon qualifying session should take place in warmer temperatures, it is clear that the pole record time will be broken. The Corvettes remain a second off the pace.
The Falken Porsche was 1.8 seconds off the pace in practice, a sign that the Michelin tires have made leaps forward and provided the bulk of the time improvement for the other GTLM runners.
Pierre Kaffer set the fast time early in the session, presumably when teams were mostly working on race pace. Regardless of qualifying position, the Ferrari will be one to watch in the race.
GTD saw the Paul Miller Audi claim the top spot early in the session and hold on to it for the duration. Christopher Haase set the time and credited a combination of set-up changes and cooler temperatures for the improvement. Andy Lally in the Magnus Porsche and Markus Palttala in the Turner BMW again split second and third between them. The Dodge Viper found a little more speed from Friday, but still was a second off the GTD lead.
There was a bit of agricultural racing as several cars found their way into the grass during the session. The most notable incident involved an off by Nick Tandy on cold tires. Unfortunately, he rejoined without seeing Markus Palttala, resulting in contact between the right rear of the Porsche and left front of the BMW. The damage wasn’t major, but was enough to end the BMWs session and send it to the garage for repairs. It also prevented BWM pilot Michael Marsal from getting seat time in advance of his qualifying run.
Later, Tandy acknowledged responsibility and apologized for the incident saying that he never saw Palttala and was trying to get out of the way to remove debris from the front of his Porsche. It also wasn’t the end for Tandy who would go off again later in the session, obviously struggling to get temperature on new tires.
During the practice session, Brad Kettler of Audi Racing told Jim Roller of IMSA Radio that there would be five new Audi GT3 customer cars running in 2016. He said that the cars would be on the ground to start running and testing after Petit Le Mans in October. One will be on display at COTA for spectators to see.
Stay tuned to IMSA Radio for live coverage of qualifying. DSC will have coverage after qualifying as well.
Kevin Ehrlich
