IMSA Road America: BMW pips Acura by 0.009s in second practice

BMW’s Connor De Phillippi topped second practice session for this weekend’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America.

De Phillippi beat the Acuras of Filipe Albuquerque and Jordan Taylor in the 90-minute session ahead of 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 are back in action after taking a break at Mosport last month.

Mathieu Jaminet set the benchmark at 1m52.559s in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 before the Cadillacs took over at the top, Sebastien Bourdais outpacing Jack Aitken for Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express respectively.

BMW joined the chat after 10 minutes, with Jesse Krohn’s No. 25 M Hybrid V8 pipping team-mate Connor De Phillippi in the No. 24 sister car for P1, before it was snatched by Jordan Taylor’s No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06.

De Phillippi wrested back the advantage with 1m50.335s, which would prove the fastest time of the session, pipping Krohn by seven tenths before they dived into the pits holding a BMW 1-2. Taylor then suffered a clash at Turn 5 with Daniel Goldburg in the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca that set the pace in LMP2 yesterday.

The No.24 car missed the second half of the session as it required a new transmission installing, after suffering a grassy off at the Kink.

Taylor split the two BMWs at the top of the times with 25 minutes of the session remaining, his 1m50.620s getting within 0.285s of De Phillippi. Then it was Albuquerque’s No.10 WTR Acura that grabbed P2, just 0.009s off the quickest BMW.

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.

Behind Krohn, Gianmaria Bruni was the fastest Porsche in Proton’s customer No. 5 963, ahead of the No. 7 Penske-run version.

A red flag was required just after the halfway point to retrieve the No. 34 Conquest Ferrari GTD car of Albert Costa from Turn 8, which broke a driveshaft.

The second red flag was for Ben Keating in United Autosports’ No. 2 LMP2 Oreca, which suffered a big crash in the middle of the Carousel.

#2 United Autosports ORECA LMP2-Gibson: Ben Keating, Ben Hanley (Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images)

United Autosports quickest in LMP2

Overall Mosport winner Tom Dillmann set a cracking early pace for Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen, lapping in 1m53.532s.

But Ben Hanley in United Autosports’ No. 2 car pipped Dillmann for P1 by 0.053s with 1m53.479s. However, when Keating was in the car later, he crashed at the Carousel and smashed into a concrete wall – wrecking the front and rear of the car as it span around.

That leaves the team with a huge rebuild before qualifying later.

Paul di Resta was third quickest in the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca.

#14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat (Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images)

Lexus fastest in GTD Pro

In GTD, Jack Hawksworth set the pace almost from the start in his No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F at 2m03.475s.

Alexander Sims jumped up to second place in the No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R just before the halfway point, 0.14s in arrears of Hawksworth.

The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Madison Snow was third fastest, ahead of the GTD pro-am class leading Lamborghini of Misha Goikhberg and Loris Spinelli.

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information
Cla	Drivers	#	Chassis	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	C. de Phillippi N. Yelloly BMW M Team RLL	25	BMW M Hybrid V8	32	1'50.335		132.078
2	R. Taylor F. Albuquerque Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	10	Acura ARX-06	31	+0.009 1'50.344	0.009	132.067
3	J. Taylor L. Deletraz Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	40	Acura ARX-06	27	+0.285 1'50.620	0.276	131.737
4	J. Krohn P. Eng BMW M Team RLL	24	BMW M Hybrid V8	8	+0.701 1'51.036	0.416	131.244
5	G. Bruni B. Viscaal Proton Competition	5	Porsche 963	37	+0.874 1'51.209	0.173	131.040
6	D. Cameron F. Nasr Porsche Penske Motorsport	7	Porsche 963	28	+0.913 1'51.248	0.039	130.994
7	R. van der Zande S. Bourdais Cadillac Racing	01	Cadillac V-Series.R	36	+0.942 1'51.277	0.029	130.960
8	P. Derani J. Aitken Whelen Cadillac Racing	31	Cadillac V-Series.R	32	+1.002 1'51.337	0.060	130.889
9	T. van der Helm R. Westbrook JDC/Miller Motorsports	85	Porsche 963	31	+1.022 1'51.357	0.020	130.866
10	N. Tandy M. Jaminet Porsche Penske Motorsport	6	Porsche 963	32	+1.703 1'52.038	0.681	130.070
11	B. Keating B. Hanley United Autosports USA	2	ORECA 07	31	+3.144 1'53.479	1.441	128.418
12	N. Boulle T. Dillmann Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	52	ORECA 07	34	+3.197 1'53.532	0.053	128.359
13	D. Goldburg P. di Resta United Autosports USA	22	ORECA 07	32	+3.240 1'53.575	0.043	128.310
14	G. Kraut S. Andrews JDC/Miller Motorsports	79	ORECA 07	30	+3.549 1'53.884	0.309	127.962
15	L. Perez Companc N. Nielsen Richard Mille AF Corse	88	ORECA 07	34	+3.746 1'54.081	0.197	127.741
16	J. Farano C. Eastwood Tower Motorsports	8	ORECA 07	34	+3.855 1'54.190	0.109	127.619
17	S. Thomas M. Jensen TDS Racing	11	ORECA 07	35	+3.899 1'54.234	0.044	127.570
18	G. Robinson F. Fraga Riley	74	ORECA 07	24	+4.094 1'54.429	0.195	127.352
19	P. Hyett P. Chatin AO Racing	99	ORECA 07	34	+4.143 1'54.478	0.049	127.298
20	S. Wiltshire R. Dalziel Era Motorsport	18	ORECA 07	35	+4.192 1'54.527	0.049	127.243
21	D. Andersen S. Lucas MDK by High Class Racing	20	ORECA 07	35	+5.206 1'55.541	1.014	126.127
22	J. Barbosa T. Kasemets Sean Creech Motorsport	33	Ligier JS P217	25	+7.291 1'57.626	2.085	123.891
23	J. Hawksworth B. Barnicoat Vasser Sullivan	14	Lexus RC F GT3	27	+13.140 2'03.475	5.849	118.022
24	A. Garcia A. Sims Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	3	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	32	+13.280 2'03.615	0.140	117.889
25	B. Sellers M. Snow Paul Miller Racing	1	BMW M4 GT3	27	+13.313 2'03.648	0.033	117.857
26	M. Goikhberg L. Spinelli Forte Racing	78	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	29	+13.469 2'03.804	0.156	117.709
27	O. Triarsi A. Rovera Triarsi Competizione	023	Ferrari 296 GT3	29	+13.718 2'04.053	0.249	117.472
28	J. Hand D. Muller Ford Multimatic Motorsports	65	Ford Mustang GT3	29	+13.752 2'04.087	0.034	117.440
29	T. Milner N. Catsburg Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	4	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	34	+13.759 2'04.094	0.007	117.434
30	L. Heinrich J. Andlauer AO Racing	77	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	28	+13.861 2'04.196	0.102	117.337
31	M. Kirchhofer O. Jarvis Pfaff Motorsports	9	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	26	+13.861 2'04.196	0.000	117.337
32	M. Grenier K. Koch Korthoff/Preston Motorsports	32	Mercedes AMG GT3	26	+13.974 2'04.309	0.113	117.230
33	R. De Angelis Z. Robichon Heart Of Racing Team	27	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	25	+14.032 2'04.367	0.058	117.176
34	R. Gunn A. Riberas Heart Of Racing Team	23	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	28	+14.104 2'04.439	0.072	117.108
35	R. Ward P. Ellis Winward Racing	57	Mercedes AMG GT3	30	+14.206 2'04.541	0.102	117.012
36	D. Serra G. Altoè Conquest Racing	35	Ferrari 296 GT3	21	+14.254 2'04.589	0.048	116.967
37	B. Iribe F. Schandorff Inception Racing	70	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	30	+14.278 2'04.613	0.024	116.944
38	A. Adelson E. Skeer Wright Motorsports	120	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	32	+14.371 2'04.706	0.093	116.857
39	K. Li A. Fjordbach MDK Motorsports	86	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	32	+14.383 2'04.718	0.012	116.846
40	R. Foley P. Gallagher Turner Motorsport	96	BMW M4 GT3	29	+14.394 2'04.729	0.011	116.836
41	H. Tincknell M. Rockenfeller Ford Multimatic Motorsports	64	Ford Mustang GT3	27	+14.508 2'04.843	0.114	116.729
42	S. Mitchell D. Formal Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	45	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	28	+14.519 2'04.854	0.011	116.719
43	G. Levorato C. Lewis Proton Competition	55	Ford Mustang GT3	31	+14.532 2'04.867	0.013	116.707
44	M. Franco A. Costa Conquest Racing	34	Ferrari 296 GT3	18	+14.687 2'05.022	0.155	116.562
45	F. Montecalvo P. Thompson Vasser Sullivan	12	Lexus RC F GT3	27	+14.920 2'05.255	0.233	116.345
46	S. Monk S. McAleer Gradient Racing	66	Acura NSX GT3	28	+15.073 2'05.408	0.153	116.203
47	O. Fidani M. Bell AWA	13	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD	27	+15.844 2'06.179	0.771	115.493
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