IMSA’s five GTP manufacturers were all represented in the top five during the first Motul SportsCar Grand Prix practice session this afternoon. Conditions were sunny and good, reflective of what’s to come tomorrow and Sunday.
At the head of the pack was the #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06, the winning car in the last round at Watkins Glen. Tom Blomqvist set the fastest time of the 90-minute session, with a 1:51.255.
The big surprise was in second place, less than a tenth behind – the #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie. Ross Gunn set a competitive lap of 1:51.328 at a circuit that is believed to suit the V12 Valkyrie’s strengths.
Then in third was the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R of Jack Aitken, the #24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng, and the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Nick Tandy, rounding out the top five.
In LMP2, the #11 TDS Racing ORECA of Mikkel Jensen went fastest with a 1:52.781, ahead of the two United Autosports USA cars in second and third.
But both United cars were involved in incidents that brought out red flags. The #22 of Dan Goldburg went off at turn eight and was stranded in the gravel; then, with less than seven minutes left, the #2 United car of Phil Fayer and the #021 Triarsi Compeizione Ferrari of Onofrio Triarsi Jnr collided down at Canada Corner, sending Fayer off into the tire barrier.
Both cars will lose their fastest laps in Qualifying tomorrow for causing a red flag in practice.
The #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 of Albert Costa set the quickest time in GTD PRO, at 2:05.844, enough to lead his class.
Behind him were the #4 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg, then the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Andrea Caldarelli, and the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Laurin Heinrich.
And the fastest GT time of all belonged to the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, and driver Russell Ward. Ward led the GTD class with his best lap of 2:04.991, over eight-tenths quicker than the next car in class.
That second-ranked car was the #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3, driven by Jack Hawksworth; Elliott Skeer went third-fastest in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche, and Daniel Serra in the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 rounded out the top four.
Practice 2 starts tomorrow at 9:05 AM CT (local time).
Images © Jack Webster / Dailysportscar.com
