IMSA Road America: Acura fastest from BMW in first practice

Acura’s Filipe Albuquerque topped the opening practice session for this weekend’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America.

Albuquerque beat BMW’s Connor De Phillippi and Sebastien Bourdais (Cadillac Racing) in preparation for Sunday’s 2h40m race around the four-mile track that’s the self-proclaimed ‘America’s National Park of Speed’ and features a 47-car entry.

The premier class GTP hybrids were back after taking a break at Mosport last month.

Dane Cameron set the benchmark at 1m53.538s in the points-leading No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 he shares with Felipe Nasr, 0.015s ahead of the sister No. 6 car of Mathieu Jaminet.

Times tumbled after 10 minutes, as Louis Deletraz (No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06), Bourdais (Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R) and Albuquerque (No.10 WTR Acura) all took turns in P1. Albuquerque’s 1m52.555s was then eclipsed by Deletraz’s 1m52.451s.

BMW joined the chat after 20 minutes, with De Phillippi lapping in 1m51.500s, to take top spot in the No. 25 M Hybrid V8, eight tenths clear of Jesse Krohn in the sister No. 24 car. Both BMW and Acura have tested recently at Road America, while in Balance of Performance news, the BMW has gained 1 kW of power and the Acura ARX-06 is 5kg heavier.

Deletraz split the BMWs with a 1m51.902s, but this was still four tenths shy of De Phillippi, while Ricky Taylor took fourth in the No. 10 Acura with 1m52.104s.

Bourdais suffered an off at Turn 5 and continued, which was mirrored by Jack Aitken later in the session in the No. 31 Action Express Caddy. It didn’t seem to hamper Bourdais, who later jumped up to second place, 0.166s off De Phillippi.

The session was red flagged with 35m remaining for debris to be recovered from Turn 14.

The factory Porsches had fallen back to the bottom of the top 10 until Nasr went third fastest inside the final 10 minutes in the No. 7.

But with less than four minutes left on the clock, Albuquerque rocketed to P1 with 1m51.089s, four tenths clear of the opposition. He just beat a second red flag as Danny Formal put his WTR with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan in the gravel at the final corner.

United Autosports quickest in LMP2

Paul di Resta set a storming pace at 1m53.486s in the opening moments of the session in the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca that proved unbeatable across the 90-minute session.

Tom Dillmann was over half a second off that pace with 1m53.093s for Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen, ahead of Ben Hanley in third United’s No. 2 car from Mikkel Jensen’s TDS car.

Mosport pole-winner PJ Hyett (AO Racing) clashed with Seth Lucas’s No. 20 MDK by High Class Racing entry at Turn 1, which resulted in Hyett being penalized with a drive-through penalty.

McLaren fastest in GTD Pro

In GTD, Laurin Heinrich set the early pace in the points-leading AO Porsche 911 at 2m05.687s but was toppled minutes later by Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R) and Mike Rockenfeller (No. 64 Multimatic Ford Mustang).

But towards the end of the session it was Inception Racing’s Frederik Schandorff who vaulted its McLaren 720S to the head of the times, leading all the Pro class cars as well as his fellow pro-ams.

Garcia led the Pro class from Rockenfeller and Nicky Catsburg in the sister No. 4 Corvette.

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information
Cla	Drivers	#	Chassis	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	R. Taylor F. Albuquerque Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	10	Acura ARX-06	34	1'51.089		131.181
2	C. de Phillippi N. Yelloly BMW M Team RLL	25	BMW M Hybrid V8	33	+0.411 1'51.500	0.411	130.698
3	R. van der Zande S. Bourdais Cadillac Racing	01	Cadillac V-Series.R	31	+0.577 1'51.666	0.166	130.503
4	D. Cameron F. Nasr Porsche Penske Motorsport	7	Porsche 963	31	+0.751 1'51.840	0.174	130.300
5	J. Taylor L. Deletraz Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	40	Acura ARX-06	32	+0.813 1'51.902	0.062	130.228
6	G. Bruni B. Viscaal Proton Competition	5	Porsche 963	34	+0.950 1'52.039	0.137	130.069
7	J. Krohn P. Eng BMW M Team RLL	24	BMW M Hybrid V8	33	+1.252 1'52.341	0.302	129.719
8	P. Derani J. Aitken Whelen Cadillac Racing	31	Cadillac V-Series.R	38	+1.347 1'52.436	0.095	129.610
9	N. Tandy M. Jaminet Porsche Penske Motorsport	6	Porsche 963	33	+1.858 1'52.947	0.511	129.023
10	T. van der Helm R. Westbrook JDC/Miller Motorsports	85	Porsche 963	30	+2.310 1'53.399	0.452	128.509
11	D. Goldburg P. di Resta United Autosports USA	22	ORECA 07	30	+2.397 1'53.486	0.087	128.411
12	N. Boulle T. Dillmann Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	52	ORECA 07	30	+3.004 1'54.093	0.607	127.727
13	B. Keating B. Hanley United Autosports USA	2	ORECA 07	32	+3.088 1'54.177	0.084	127.633
14	S. Thomas M. Jensen TDS Racing	11	ORECA 07	37	+3.113 1'54.202	0.025	127.605
15	S. Wiltshire R. Dalziel Era Motorsport	18	ORECA 07	31	+3.280 1'54.369	0.167	127.419
16	G. Kraut S. Andrews JDC/Miller Motorsports	79	ORECA 07	31	+3.549 1'54.638	0.269	127.120
17	P. Hyett P. Chatin AO Racing	99	ORECA 07	31	+3.628 1'54.717	0.079	127.033
18	G. Robinson F. Fraga Riley	74	ORECA 07	30	+3.836 1'54.925	0.208	126.803
19	J. Farano C. Eastwood Tower Motorsports	8	ORECA 07	14	+5.882 1'56.971	2.046	124.585
20	J. Barbosa T. Kasemets Sean Creech Motorsport	33	Ligier JS P217	25	+7.083 1'58.172	1.201	123.319
21	D. Andersen S. Lucas MDK by High Class Racing	20	ORECA 07	34	+7.198 1'58.287	0.115	123.199
22	L. Perez Companc N. Nielsen Richard Mille AF Corse	88	ORECA 07	21	+8.514 1'59.603	1.316	121.843
23	B. Iribe F. Schandorff Inception Racing	70	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	31	+14.153 2'05.242	5.639	116.357
24	A. Garcia A. Sims Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	3	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	30	+14.280 2'05.369	0.127	116.239
25	H. Tincknell M. Rockenfeller Ford Multimatic Motorsports	64	Ford Mustang GT3	30	+14.499 2'05.588	0.219	116.037
26	T. Milner N. Catsburg Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	4	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	29	+14.587 2'05.676	0.088	115.955
27	L. Heinrich J. Andlauer AO Racing	77	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	29	+14.598 2'05.687	0.011	115.945
28	B. Sellers M. Snow Paul Miller Racing	1	BMW M4 GT3	30	+14.629 2'05.718	0.031	115.917
29	D. Serra G. Altoè Conquest Racing	35	Ferrari 296 GT3	30	+14.660 2'05.749	0.031	115.888
30	J. Hawksworth B. Barnicoat Vasser Sullivan	14	Lexus RC F GT3	26	+14.660 2'05.749	0.000	115.888
31	M. Goikhberg L. Spinelli Forte Racing	78	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	29	+14.782 2'05.871	0.122	115.776
32	R. Foley P. Gallagher Turner Motorsport	96	BMW M4 GT3	29	+14.866 2'05.955	0.084	115.698
33	R. De Angelis Z. Robichon Heart Of Racing Team	27	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	23	+14.999 2'06.088	0.133	115.576
34	M. Grenier K. Koch Korthoff/Preston Motorsports	32	Mercedes AMG GT3	29	+15.039 2'06.128	0.040	115.540
35	R. Gunn A. Riberas Heart Of Racing Team	23	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	31	+15.133 2'06.222	0.094	115.454
36	M. Kirchhofer O. Jarvis Pfaff Motorsports	9	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	31	+15.148 2'06.237	0.015	115.440
37	M. Franco A. Costa Conquest Racing	34	Ferrari 296 GT3	31	+15.157 2'06.246	0.009	115.432
38	S. Monk S. McAleer Gradient Racing	66	Acura NSX GT3	32	+15.195 2'06.284	0.038	115.397
39	S. Mitchell D. Formal Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	45	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	26	+15.205 2'06.294	0.010	115.388
40	F. Montecalvo P. Thompson Vasser Sullivan	12	Lexus RC F GT3	25	+15.292 2'06.381	0.087	115.308
41	R. Ward P. Ellis Winward Racing	57	Mercedes AMG GT3	34	+15.325 2'06.414	0.033	115.278
42	O. Triarsi A. Rovera Triarsi Competizione	023	Ferrari 296 GT3	7	+15.484 2'06.573	0.159	115.134
43	J. Hand D. Muller Ford Multimatic Motorsports	65	Ford Mustang GT3	23	+15.497 2'06.586	0.013	115.122
44	A. Adelson E. Skeer Wright Motorsports	120	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	34	+15.621 2'06.710	0.124	115.009
45	G. Levorato C. Lewis Proton Competition	55	Ford Mustang GT3	32	+15.660 2'06.749	0.039	114.974
46	O. Fidani M. Bell AWA	13	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD	28	+15.724 2'06.813	0.064	114.916
47	K. Li A. Fjordbach MDK Motorsports	86	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	32	+15.988 2'07.077	0.264	114.677
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