The #25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 set the fastest time in Practice 2 this morning at Road America, leading into Qualifying for tomorrow’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend race.
Connor de Phillippi, who went second-fastest in Practice 1 yesterday afternoon, topped the timesheets with a best lap of 1:50.335. It’s been a solid weekend so far for the two BMW GTPs: Jesse Krohn was fourth-fastest in the #24 BMW as well.
It may bode well in Qualifying this afternoon – but the #24 BMW lost significant chunks of track time this morning. Krohn went off at turn five after setting his fastest lap, and damaged the rear of the car – which spent the last 75 minutes behind the wall for repairs.
Late improvements from the two Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06es got them up to second and third. Filipe Albuquerque finished just nine milliseconds off the top in the blue and black #10 Acura, ahead of Jordan Taylor in the red #40.
Those laps came in before the session was red-flagged for Ben Keating’s accident with ten minutes left in the 90-minute session. Keating went off course at the Carousel (turn ten) and smashed the left side of the #2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 into the concrete barriers. The charismatic Texan was able to walk away from the crash, but the #2 car suffered significant damage and it’s unclear if the car will go out for Qualifying.
The session resumed with less than three minutes left on the clock, not enough time for drivers to post significant improvements in their times.
Leading the Porsche 963s was not one of the Penske Motorsport factory cars, but the #5 Proton Competition customer car of Gianmaria Bruni, who went fifth-fastest ahead of Felipe Nasr in the #7 Penske Porsche in sixth.
The two Cadillac V-Series.Rs finished seventh and eighth, led by Renger van der Zande in the #01 Ganassi car ahead of the #31 Whelen Engineering car of Pipo Derani.
Keating’s crash dampened what should have been a good session for the #2 United Autosports ORECA. Not only did Ben Hanley set the fastest time in his class with a 1:53.479, but Keating was the fastest of the Bronze drivers before his crash.
It ended up as a United 1-2 with Paul di Resta going second-fastest towards the end aboard the #22 car, followed by the #52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen ORECA of Tom Dillmann in third place.
The new #79 JDC-Miller MotorSports ORECA, in its first race weekend of the year, was fourth-fastest in the hands of Scott Andrews – who went ahead of Le Mans 24 Hours winner Nicklas Nielsen in the #88 car for Richard Mille AF Corse.
Over in GTD Pro, championship contender Jack Hawksworth in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 went quickest early on, with a best time of 2:03.475.
Not much covered the top three in GTD Pro – Alexander Sims was a close second in the #3 Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, and Madison Snow was third in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. All three were covered by less than two-tenths of a second.
Loris Spinelli in the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 led the GTD class on a 2:03.804. A good surprise right behind him was the #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3, making a rare IMSA sprint appearance. Onofrio Triarsi Jnr set the second-fastest time in class.
Dirk Müller in the Ford Multimatic Motorsports #64 Mustang GT3 was fourth-fastest in GTD Pro; rounding out the top four in GTD were Mikaël Grenier in the #32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3, and Zacharie Robichon in the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
There was only one other Red Flag during Practice 2, that came out when the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Albert Costa stopped at turn eight.
Qualifying for Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute sprint starts at 4:20 PM CDT (local time).
Images © Jack Webster / Racingpilot.com / DSC
