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Practice report

VIR IMSA: WeatherTech Porsche dominates first practice

Kevin Estre led opening practice at VIRaceway by almost eight-tenths of a second, as the Porsche 911 RSR again proved ideal for the course in Alton, Virginia.

#79: WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR - 19, GTLM: Cooper MacNeil, Kevin Estre

#79: WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR - 19, GTLM: Cooper MacNeil, Kevin Estre

Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Estre, in his first IMSA race since the season-opening Rolex 24 Hours, is racing at VIR for the first time since 2014. Yet he delivered a 1min41.124sec lap to emerge 0.797sec faster than the Corvette C8.R of Nick Tandy who was another half a tenth up on teammates and defending race winners Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.

In GT Daytona, Bill Auberlen had a six-tenth margin over the opposition in his Turner Motorsports BMW M6 until the last minute of the session, when Franck Perera bounced the Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini up to second, ahead of Ross Gunn’s Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.

Jack Hawskworth was the quickest of Vasser Sullivan Racing’s Lexus RC F drivers in fourth, ahead of Daniel Morad in the Alegra Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 and Jeff Westphal’s Carbahn with Peregrine Racing Audi R8.

With Wright Motorsports’ Pat Long next up in the faster of the Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, it meant that the top seven slots were filled by seven different marques.

Paul Miller Racing's Lamborghini Huracan completed barely a third of the laps of its rivals, as Bryan Sellers reported an electrical issue. 

Second practice begins at 11.55am local (Eastern) time.

Cla Driver Class Chassis Laps Time Gap
1 United States Cooper MacNeil
France Kevin Estre
GTLM Porsche 911 RSR - 19 29 1'41.124
2 United States Tommy Milner
United Kingdom Nick Tandy
GTLM Corvette C8.R 29 1'41.921 0.797
3 Spain Antonio Garcia
United States Jordan Taylor
GTLM Corvette C8.R 30 1'41.969 0.845
4 United States Bill Auberlen
United States Robby Foley
GTD BMW M6 GT3 30 1'44.391 3.267
5 Canada Mikhail Goikhberg
France Franck Perera
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 27 1'44.666 3.542
6 Canada Roman De Angelis
United Kingdom Ross Gunn
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 28 1'45.029 3.905
7 United States Aaron Telitz
United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth
GTD Lexus RC F GT3 23 1'45.090 3.966
8 Canada Daniel Morad
United States Michael de Quesada
GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 26 1'45.138 4.014
9 United States Richard Heistand
United States Jeff Westphal
GTD Audi R8 LMS GT3 25 1'45.291 4.167
10 United States Trent Hindman
United States Patrick Long
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 27 1'45.431 4.307
11 Canada Zacharie Robichon
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 29 1'45.483 4.359
12 United Kingdom Ian James
Spain Alex Riberas
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 22 1'45.674 4.550
13 United States Till Bechtolsheimer
Germany Mario Farnbacher
GTD Acura NSX GT3 30 1'45.851 4.727
14 United States Frankie Montecalvo
United States Zach Veach
GTD Lexus RC F GT3 28 1'45.887 4.763
15 United States John Potter
United States Andy Lally
GTD Acura NSX GT3 25 1'45.900 4.776
16 United States Mike Skeen
United States Guy Cosmo
GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 22 1'45.935 4.811
17 United States Rob Ferriol
United Kingdom Katherine Legge
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 26 1'46.211 5.087
18 United States Bryan Sellers
United States Madison Snow
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 9 1'47.149 6.025

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