BMW M Team RLL has turned up the pace in second practice for the IMSA Monterey SportsCar Weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
RLL’s Dries Vanthoor set the fastest time in GTP aboard the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, and the best time of the weekend thus far with a 1:13.915. That bodes well for qualifying, as the Belgian has captured three pole positions in three IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rounds.
Matt Campbell posted the second-quickest time in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, just before a red flag was shown after Misha Goikhberg’s #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini spun off into the sand trap at turn three. Campbell was just 0.036s away from the top time.
It was the second red flag of the 90-minute practice session. The first happened around the 30-minute mark after Nick Yelloly went off at the Corkscrew. While he did avoid hitting the barrier, the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 will lose its fastest lap in qualifying this afternoon for bringing out a red flag.
And the leading car in GTP also had its troubles – Philipp Eng was turned around by the #4 Corvette of Tommy Milner, thankfully Eng was able to get his car going again.
The #25 RLL BMW was third-fastest in the hands of Sheldon van der Linde, followed by Tom Blomqvist in the #60 MSR Acura, and Felipe Nasr in the #7 Penske Porsche. Just before the chequered flag, Nasr’s co-driver Nick Tandy slowly drove the #7 Porsche back to the pits with the cockpit door open, for an issue that is still to be diagnosed.
The Pratt Miller Motorsports factory Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs finished first and second in GTD PRO, led by the #4 of Nicky Catsburg with a 1:21.187, a tenth and a half up on the #3 of Alexander Sims.
The #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 was third-fastest, though the yellow and pink Ferrari did have a minor scare when the car began to emit smoke from the rear. A flush of gearbox fluid seemed to fix the issue, and the car continued without any further issues.
Completing GTD PRO’s top five was the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, and the #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3.
Kenton Koch and Korthoff Competition Motors led the way in GTD: Koch set a 1:21.502 in the #32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO.
Behind Koch, the #45 WTR Lamborghini was second-quickest, then the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus.
DXDT Racing’s Robert Wickens set a personal best of 1:22.596 and has turned 45 laps so far in his specially-equipped #36 Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
Qualifying for the Monterey SportsCar Championship starts this afternoon at 3:15 PT (local time), airing on the official IMSA YouTube channel/IMSA TV in most countries outside the United States, and Peacock in the United States.
Images © Michael L. Levitt, Perry Nelson / IMSA / LAT
