ESM’s #2 Nissan DPi set the fastest time during Thursday practice at Road Atlanta ahead of the 21st running of Petit Le Mans. The best tour of the circuit was a 1:11.457 set by Norman Nato, during night practice.
GTLM’s pacesetter was the #4 Corvette Racing C7.R, with a 1:17.847 set by Tommy Milner, also in night practice, the best GTD time of the day meanwhile, came in FP1, the Land Motorsport Audi managing a 1:20.238.
Night practice was the third session of the day for the IMSA runners. The opening two sessions of the weekend were led by the Mustang Sampling Action Express Cadillac and the CORE autosport ORECA respectively.
In FP1, Filipe Albuquerque set the best time for Action Express, a 1:11.878, two tenths faster than the #31 Action Express Cadillac which made it a 1-2 for the team, and the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing DPi V.R, which made it a 1-2-3 for the GM brand.
The best of the rest was the #7 Penske Acura, its best time a 1:12.330.
In the GTLM class it was a Ford 1-2 with the #66 leading the #67 with 1:18.343. The #3 Corvette rounded out the top three. Behind the Land Audi in GTD meanwhile, was the #15 3GT Racing Lexus, just under four tenths off Chris Mies’s time in the R8 LMS, but a tenth and a half up on the third place Turner BMW.
Colin Bruan led the way in the second practice session, setting a time of 1:11.669 in the CORE autosport ORECA.
“We’re just doing our normal thing,” said Braun after the session. “CORE autosport is just focused on running through our list of test items for the race and getting Romain some seat time. Obviously, he’s quick and right up to speed so he doesn’t need too much. But just working through our list of stuff to do.
“I’m happy to be quick, obviously that’s always a good thing. I think the #31 was second quick in the (first) practice, so obviously they have good pace as well. It’s good, just keep our heads down and do our thing. I’ve been saying all week, it’s not going to come down to the ultimate pace, it’s going to come down to surviving 10 hours and being smart, having a good car in traffic and things like that, so that’s what we’re focused on.”
His time was just under two tenths faster than the FP1-topping Mustang Sampling Cadillac’s fastest time in the second practice session, and almost three tenths up on the #6 Penske Acura which ended up third.
GTLM proved to be really tight between the #3 Corvette and the #67 Ford, with just less than a tenth separating the two, the best time coming from Jan Magnussen, a 1:18.300.
The Riley Motorsports Mercedes topped GTD, by just over a tenth, with the Turner Motorsports BMW again going quickly, slotting in second, and the FP1 pace-setting Land Audi ending up third.
The times in Prototype and GTLM then tumbled in the night session, with the Patron ESM Nissan sitting 1-2 after 90 minutes of running in the darkness to go fastest of the day. Nato was the hot shoe in the #2 (1:11.457), just 0.09 quicker than his teammate Pipo Derani in the #22.
Penske’s #7 Acura came closest to breaking the ESM stranglehold at the top with a 1:11.663 courtesy of Ricky Taylor.
In GTLM it was Corvette over Ford, but this time a 1-2 for the Pratt and Miller team, with Tommy Milner putting the #4 on top with a 1:17.847.
Felipe Fraga set the GTD benchmark, in the #71 P1 Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3, with a 1:20.452, though he was unable to better Mies FP1 time.
The IMSA action continues on Friday, with Free Practice 4 set to begin at 11:15am local time.
