Lime Rock IMSA: Edwards puts BMW on top in FP1

The opening exchanges in the 80-minute session provided the tight margins we can expect from the 1.5-mile road course in Lakeville, Connecticut with the fastest three cars initially separated by 0.005s.

Top spot switched hands between a trio of GTD Pro drivers early on – Matt Campbell (Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R), Antonio Garcia (Corvette C8.R) and Ben Barnicoat (VasserSullivan Lexus RC F). Campbell was the first to dip into the sub-52s bracket with a lap of 51.901s, 0.184s ahead of Garcia’s 52.085s. Barnicoat was two tenths off the pace in third.

Times tumbled towards the end of the session, as Jack Hawksworth – returning from injuries sustained in a motocross bike accident while training – briefly took P1 in the #14 Lexus with 51.842s before Edwards grabbed it in his RLL-run BMW M4, setting an overall fastest time of 51.735s.

Campbell slipped to third in the five-car class, ahead of Garcia and Ross Gunn’s Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.

Robby Foley set the initial non-all-Pro GTD pace in his Turner Motorsport BMW M4 at 52.436s but that was easily eclipsed by Jules Gounon’s 52.138s in the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes. Gounon was also quick in the pits, receiving a warning for a speeding violation.

Bill Auberlen took over the Turner car and got to within 0.026s of Gounon with less than 20 minutes of the session remaining, before the quickest times of the session were then set.

Russell Ward’s Winward Racing Mercedes reset the bar at 52.030s with 13 minutes to go, before Mike Skeen produced 51.877s in his Team Korthoff Motorsports example.

Robert Megennis then stole P1 with 51.814s in his CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Lamborghini Huracan – not only enough to lead the class but also put the car second-quickest overall.

Skeen was second fastest (fourth overall), ahead of Philip Ellis – who went slightly quicker than Ward in the Winward Merc – for third in class. Gounon’s early time put him fourth, as teammate Cooper MacNeil was unable to get remotely close to his time, and Frankie Montecalvo was fifth in the second Lexus, ahead of Auberlen.

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Connor de Phillippi John Edwards	BMW M4 GT3	53	51.735			102.846
2	Robert Megennis Jeff Westphal	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	57	51.814	0.079	0.079	102.690
3	Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat	Lexus RC F GT3	51	51.820	0.085	0.006	102.678
4	Mike Skeen Stevan McAleer	Mercedes AMG GT3	61	51.877	0.142	0.057	102.565
5	Matt Campbell Mathieu Jaminet	Porsche 911 GT3 R	57	51.901	0.166	0.024	102.518
6	Russell Ward Philip Ellis	Mercedes AMG GT3	75	52.004	0.269	0.103	102.314
7	Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor	Corvette C8.R GTD	63	52.085	0.350	0.081	102.155
8	Cooper MacNeil Jules Gounon	Mercedes AMG GT3	63	52.138	0.403	0.053	102.052
9	Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz	Lexus RC F GT3	61	52.156	0.421	0.018	102.016
10	Robby Foley Bill Auberlen	BMW M4 GT3	61	52.164	0.429	0.008	102.001
11	Ross Gunn Alex Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	58	52.202	0.467	0.038	101.926
12	Ryan Eversley Aidan Read	Acura NSX GT3	45	52.409	0.674	0.207	101.524
13	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	BMW M4 GT3	63	52.468	0.733	0.059	101.410
14	Ryan Hardwick Jan Heylen	Porsche 911 GT3 R	69	52.557	0.822	0.089	101.238
15	Roman De Angelis Maxime Martin	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	51	52.853	1.118	0.296	100.671
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