Petit Le Mans: Sensational Nasr puts AXR top again in FP4

The ex-Formula 1 driver’s Cadillac DPi-V.R lapped the 2.54-mile Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta course in 68.419sec, an average speed of more than 133mph, to go 0.622sec clear of Ricky Taylor’s best in the Acura Team Penske ARX-05 and almost 0.7sec clear of the next fastest Cadillac.

That was the other AXR machine piloted by Filipe Albuquerque, who was nearly 0.2sec clear of Renger van der Zande’s top lap in the Wayne Taylor Racing Caddy.

Timo Bernhard was quickest Mazda RT24-P driver in fifth – Harry Tincknell had a brief off in the #55 car – while championship aspirant (and former champ) Dane Cameron was seventh in the second Acura.

Matt McMurry was less that 0.2sec clear of Kyle Masson in the two-car LMP2 battle.

James Calado’s 1min 15.757sec lap for series returnee Risi Competizione lifted the Ferrari 488 almost half a second clear of its nearest pursuer, Philipp Eng in the #24 RLLR-run BMW M8, while Richard Westbrook was top Ford GT driver in third, a couple of thousandths ahead of Antonio Garcia’s Corvette C7.R.

In GT Daytona, Robby Foley was fastest for Turner Motorsports, his BMW M6 GT3 only 0.061 ahead of Toni Vilander in the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3, and 0.070 faster than Ricardo Feller in the Montaplast by Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS.

Jeroen Bleekemolen’s pace suggests the Mercedes AMG-GT3 of Riley Motorsports should be in the hunt for pole.

Qualifying begins at 3.55pm local (Eastern) time.

Session results:

Cla	Num	Driver	Class	Chassis	Time	Gap
1	31	Felipe Nasr Eric Curran Pipo Derani	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'08.419
2	7	Ricky Taylor Helio Castroneves Graham Rahal	DPi	Acura DPi	1'09.041	0.622
3	5	Joao Barbosa Mike Conway Filipe Albuquerque	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'09.115	0.696
4	10	Renger van der Zande Jordan Taylor Matthieu Vaxiviere	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'09.301	0.882
5	77	Oliver Jarvis Tristan Nunez Timo Bernhard	DPi	Mazda DPi	1'09.345	0.926
6	85	Mikhail Goikhberg Tristan Vautier Juan Piedrahita	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'09.517	1.098
7	6	Dane Cameron Juan Pablo Montoya Simon Pagenaud	DPi	Acura DPi	1'09.667	1.248
8	54	Jon Bennett Colin Braun Romain Dumas	DPi	Nissan DPi	1'09.716	1.297
9	50	Will Owen Rene Binder Spencer Pigot	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'09.863	1.444
10	84	Simon Trummer Stephen Simpson Chris Miller	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'09.949	1.530
11	55	Jonathan Bomarito Harry Tincknell Olivier Pla	DPi	Mazda DPi	1'09.987	1.568
12	52	Matt McMurry Gabriel Aubry Dalton Kellett	LMP2	ORECA LMP2	1'11.209	2.790
13	38	Cameron Cassels Kyle Masson Andrew Evans	LMP2	ORECA LMP2	1'11.398	2.979
14	62	James Calado Alessandro Pier Guidi Daniel Serra	GTLM	Ferrari 488 GTE	1'15.757	7.338
15	24	Jesse Krohn John Edwards Philipp Eng	GTLM	BMW M8 GTE	1'16.237	7.818
16	67	Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Scott Dixon	GTLM	Ford GT	1'16.365	7.946
17	3	Jan Magnussen Antonio Garcia Mike Rockenfeller	GTLM	Corvette C7.R	1'16.369	7.950
18	25	Tom Blomqvist Connor de Phillippi Colton Herta	GTLM	BMW M8 GTE	1'16.396	7.977
19	4	Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Marcel Fassler	GTLM	Corvette C7.R	1'16.494	8.075
20	911	Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy Frédéric Makowiecki	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR	1'16.500	8.081
21	912	Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor Mathieu Jaminet	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR	1'16.616	8.197
22	66	Joey Hand Dirk Muller Sébastien Bourdais	GTLM	Ford GT	1'16.814	8.395
23	96	Bill Auberlen Robby Foley Dillon Machavern	GTD	BMW M6 GT3	1'19.462	11.043
24	63	Cooper MacNeil Toni Vilander Jeff Westphal	GTD	Ferrari 488 GT3	1'19.523	11.104
25	29	Christopher Mies Richard Feller Daniel Morad	GTD	Audi R8 LMS GT3	1'19.532	11.113
26	33	Ben Keating Jeroen Bleekemolen Felipe Fraga	GTD	Mercedes-AMG GT3	1'19.596	11.177
27	44	John Potter Andy Lally Spencer Pumpelly	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	1'19.812	11.393
28	47	Brandon Gdovic Don Yount Shinya Michimi	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	1'19.883	11.464
29	9	Scott Hargrove Zacharie Robichon Lars Kern	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1'19.925	11.506
30	14	Richard Heistand Jack Hawksworth Parker Chase	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	1'19.969	11.550
31	48	Bryan Sellers Corey Lewis Marco Seefried	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	1'20.053	11.634
32	86	Mario Farnbacher Trent Hindman Justin Marks	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	1'20.121	11.702
33	57	Katherine Legge Ana Beatriz Christina Nielsen	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	1'20.130	11.711
34	12	Frankie Montecalvo Townsend Bell Aaron Telitz	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	1'20.383	11.964
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