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