IMSA CTMP: Braun’s Acura beats AXR Cadillac in first practice

Braun’s Acura topped the 90-minute session for the 34-car entry with a quickest time of 1m07.341s, over three quarters of a second clear of all rivals at the fabled sportscar track near Toronto.

Ricky Taylor’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 set the early benchmark at 1m09.803s. That was soon pipped by Alexander Sims in Action Express Racing’s Cadillac V-Series.R and then Augusto Farfus in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 – keen to make amends after his first-corner exit at Watkins Glen last time out.

Sims retook the top spot by 0.085s, as he worked down to 1m09.212s, but was quickly eclipsed by Tom Blomqvist’s Meyer Shank-run Acura, who dipped under the 1m08s barrier with 1m08.889s, 0.073s faster than Nick Yelloly in the #25 BMW.

Taylor then took P1 back with 1m08.568s, before Farfus produced 1m08.423s to go top, and Taylor then got within 0.011s.

With 20 minutes to go, Filipe Albuquerque took over the WTR Acura from Taylor and set 1m08.316s before Braun (in for Blomqvist) bested him in the MSR version by 0.043s with 1m08.273s. As Braun pitted, Albuquerque retook the top spot with 1m08.138s.

Pipo Derani (AXR Caddy) then entered the chat with a 1m08.121s, pipping Albuquerque for P1 by 0.017s before a red flag for an LMP3 car stopping on track.

The session went green with just four minutes remaining, and Braun unleashed 1m07.341s, putting him on top by 0.78s.

Derani was second, ahead of Albuquerque, Renger van der Zande (Chip Ganassi Racing Caddy), Farfus, Mathieu Jaminet (#6 Porsche Penske 963) and the sister 963 of Matt Campbell. Yelloly and Mike Rockenfeller (JDC Miller Porsche) rounded out the nine-car GTP field.

Garett Grist led the LMP3 field for Jr III Racing, ahead of Felipe Fraga (Riley) and Matthew Bell (AWA).

#12: Vasser Sullivan, Lexus RC F GT3, GTD: Aaron Telitz, Frankie Montecalvo (Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images)

Lexus leads McLaren, Corvette in GTD

In GTD, Alex Riberas led the early going with a lap of 1m16.925s in his Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage. Trent Hindman got to within 0.011s of that in his Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R before co-driver Alan Brynjolfsson took over a spun at Turn 1.

Antonio Garcia reset the bar with 1m16.894s and then 1m16.724s in his Corvette C8.R to pull two tenths clear of the opposition.

But Frankie Montecalvo outdid the Spaniard, producing 1m16.558s in his #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F.

Frederik Schandorff was a surprise second in the #70 Inception McLaren 720S, ahead of Garcia and Ben Barnicoat in Lexus’s all-pro entry.

Second practice starts at 8:00am ET on Saturday.

Cla	Driver	Class	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun	GTP	Acura ARX-06	34	1'07.341			181.761
2	Pipo Derani Alexander Sims	GTP	Cadillac V-Series.R	39	1'08.121	0.780	0.780	179.680
3	Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque	GTP	Acura ARX-06	46	1'08.138	0.797	0.017	179.635
4	Sébastien Bourdais Renger van der Zande	GTP	Cadillac V-Series.R	33	1'08.353	1.012	0.215	179.070
5	Philipp Eng Augusto Farfus	GTP	BMW M Hybrid V8	46	1'08.423	1.082	0.070	178.887
6	Nick Tandy Mathieu Jaminet	GTP	Porsche 963	40	1'08.501	1.160	0.078	178.684
7	Matt Campbell Felipe Nasr	GTP	Porsche 963	31	1'08.670	1.329	0.169	178.244
8	Connor de Phillippi Nick Yelloly	GTP	BMW M Hybrid V8	45	1'08.837	1.496	0.167	177.811
9	Tijmen van der Helm Mike Rockenfeller	GTP	Porsche 963	53	1'08.890	1.549	0.053	177.675
10	Garett Grist Ari Balogh	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	18	1'12.270	4.929	3.380	169.365
11	Gar Robinson Felipe Fraga	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	47	1'12.482	5.141	0.212	168.870
12	Orey Fidani Matthew Bell	LMP3	Duqueine D08	48	1'12.600	5.259	0.118	168.595
13	Lance Willsey Joao Barbosa	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	47	1'13.444	6.103	0.844	166.658
14	Anthony Mantella Wayne Boyd	LMP3	Duqueine D08	48	1'13.534	6.193	0.090	166.454
15	Antoine Comeau George Staikos	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	39	1'16.466	9.125	2.932	160.071
16	Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	42	1'16.558	9.217	0.092	159.879
17	Brendan Iribe Frederik Schandorff	GTD	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	54	1'16.670	9.329	0.112	159.645
18	Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor	GTD PRO	Corvette C8.R GTD	44	1'16.724	9.383	0.054	159.533
19	Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat	GTD PRO	Lexus RC F GT3	40	1'16.744	9.403	0.020	159.491
20	Patrick Gallagher Robby Foley	GTD	BMW M4 GT3	50	1'16.762	9.421	0.018	159.454
21	Mikhail Goikhberg Loris Spinelli	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	41	1'16.824	9.483	0.062	159.325
22	Ross Gunn Alex Riberas	GTD PRO	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	44	1'16.925	9.584	0.101	159.116
23	Alan Brynjolfsson Trent Hindman	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	45	1'16.936	9.595	0.011	159.093
24	PJ Hyett Seb Priaulx	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	45	1'16.980	9.639	0.044	159.002
25	Russell Ward Philip Ellis	GTD	Mercedes AMG GT3	50	1'16.996	9.655	0.016	158.969
26	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	GTD	BMW M4 GT3	37	1'17.018	9.677	0.022	158.924
27	Daniel Juncadella Jules Gounon	GTD PRO	Mercedes AMG GT3	50	1'17.079	9.738	0.061	158.798
28	Roman De Angelis Marco Sorensen	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	46	1'17.088	9.747	0.009	158.780
29	Klaus Bachler Patrick Pilet	GTD PRO	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	41	1'17.128	9.787	0.040	158.697
30	David Brule Alec Udell	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	34	1'17.237	9.896	0.109	158.473
31	Bill Auberlen Chandler Hull	GTD	BMW M4 GT3	44	1'17.246	9.905	0.009	158.455
32	Sheena Monk Katherine Legge	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	47	1'17.413	10.072	0.167	158.113
33	Alan Metni Kay van Berlo	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	51	1'17.763	10.422	0.350	157.401
34	Mike Skeen Mikael Grenier	GTD	Mercedes AMG GT3	34	1'17.769	10.428	0.006	157.389
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