Acura Meyer Shank Racing began the Road America weekend in perfect fashion, placing both of its GTP entries at the top of the timing screens in first practice for the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix.
The quickest lap came from the last year’s pole-sitting No. 93 Acura ARX-06, shared by Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly, with Yelloly delivering the session-best time. After initially moving to the top around 20 minutes into the 90-minute run, Yelloly continued to lower the benchmark, eventually ending the session with a 1m51.008s.
The sister No. 60 Acura completed the MSR one-two, with Tom Blomqvist posting a 1m51.705s to secure second place.
Cooler, dry conditions greeted the field after teams had unloaded in much warmer weather the day before
The best of the Cadillacs was the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, with Louis Delétraz moving up to third with a 1m52.131s, while Laurin Heinrich put the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 fourth, as the Minnesota based team look to continue their strong season where last time out for the GTPs at Watkins Glen, they secured another podium.
The top five in GTP was completed by Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 WTR Cadillac, with Sheldon van der Linde placing he Spider-Man-liveried No. 24 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8 in sixth, while championship leader Jack Aitken ended the session seventh in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac.
United Autosports Starts Strong in LMP2
In LMP2, United Autosports USA showed early strength with both of its cars inside the top three.
Paul di Resta led the class in the No. 22 ORECA 07-Gibson, setting a 1m54.166s to put United on top. Dane Cameron was second for AO Racing in the No. 99 ORECA with a 1m54.460s, while Mikkel Jensen made it two United cars in the top three with a 1m54.502s in the No. 2 ORECA.
The LMP2 top five was completed by Harry Tincknell in the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry and Tom Dillmann in the CTMP winning No. 43 Inter Europol Competition car.
Grello Porsche Leads GTD Pro
The GTD Pro pace was set late in the session by the most recent 24 Hours of Spa winner, Thomas Preining in the No. 911 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R. Preining produced a 2m05.384s in the final 15 minutes to put the Porsche at the head of the class.
Two Michelin Endurance Cup entries finished at the top of the GTD Pro order, with Riccardo Agostini placing the No. 033 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo second on a 2m05.418s just behind the Gello Porsche.
Alexander Sims was third in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R, followed by Harry King in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche and Ben Barker in the No. 64 Ford Racing Mustang GT3.
CarBlanche Aston Martin Tops GTD
In GTD, the returning No. 068 CarBlanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo from YRB Racing, wasted little time making an impression. Valentin Hasse-Clot set the fastest time in class with a 2m05.491s, which was also the third-quickest lap among all GT cars. This is a strong start to the weekend for the squad which enters just its third IMSA race since taking over the Van Der Stuer Racing program.
Philip Ellis placed the CTMP Winning No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO second in class, while Giacomo Altoè was third in the No. 81 DragonSpeed Corvette after an encouraging day for the Florida based squad after a difficult season so far.
Ferrari rounded out the GTD top five, with Frederik Schandorff fourth in the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo and Albert Costa fifth in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari.
Red Flag Interrupts Opening Practice
The only red flag of the session came after two separate incidents occurred almost simultaneously.
At Canada Corner, Ross Gunn lost control of the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie and hit the tire barrier at the end of the runoff area. Around the same time, Robert Megennis suffered a major right-front suspension failure in the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari after running over the exit curb at Turn 5, forcing him to stop near the entry of Turn 6.
Race control ultimately attributed the red flag to the No. 23 Aston Martin, meaning the car will lose its fastest lap in qualifying tomorrow afternoon at Elkhart Lake.
The field returns for Practice 2 tomorrow morning at 9:50 a.m. local time before qualifying later in the day.
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