The opening exchanges in the 80-minute session provided the tight margins we can expect from the 1.5-mile road course in Lakeville, Connecticut with the fastest three cars initially separated by 0.005s.
Top spot switched hands between a trio of GTD Pro drivers early on – Matt Campbell (Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R), Antonio Garcia (Corvette C8.R) and Ben Barnicoat (VasserSullivan Lexus RC F). Campbell was the first to dip into the sub-52s bracket with a lap of 51.901s, 0.184s ahead of Garcia’s 52.085s. Barnicoat was two tenths off the pace in third.
Times tumbled towards the end of the session, as Jack Hawksworth – returning from injuries sustained in a motocross bike accident while training – briefly took P1 in the #14 Lexus with 51.842s before Edwards grabbed it in his RLL-run BMW M4, setting an overall fastest time of 51.735s.
Campbell slipped to third in the five-car class, ahead of Garcia and Ross Gunn’s Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.
Robby Foley set the initial non-all-Pro GTD pace in his Turner Motorsport BMW M4 at 52.436s but that was easily eclipsed by Jules Gounon’s 52.138s in the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes. Gounon was also quick in the pits, receiving a warning for a speeding violation.
Bill Auberlen took over the Turner car and got to within 0.026s of Gounon with less than 20 minutes of the session remaining, before the quickest times of the session were then set.
Russell Ward’s Winward Racing Mercedes reset the bar at 52.030s with 13 minutes to go, before Mike Skeen produced 51.877s in his Team Korthoff Motorsports example.
Robert Megennis then stole P1 with 51.814s in his CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Lamborghini Huracan – not only enough to lead the class but also put the car second-quickest overall.
Skeen was second fastest (fourth overall), ahead of Philip Ellis – who went slightly quicker than Ward in the Winward Merc – for third in class. Gounon’s early time put him fourth, as teammate Cooper MacNeil was unable to get remotely close to his time, and Frankie Montecalvo was fifth in the second Lexus, ahead of Auberlen.
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Connor de Phillippi John Edwards
| BMW M4 GT3 | 53 | 51.735 | 102.846 | ||
| 2 |
Robert Megennis Jeff Westphal
| Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 57 | 51.814 | 0.079 | 0.079 | 102.690 |
| 3 |
 Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat
| Lexus RC F GT3 | 51 | 51.820 | 0.085 | 0.006 | 102.678 |
| 4 |
Mike Skeen Stevan McAleer
| Mercedes AMG GT3 | 61 | 51.877 | 0.142 | 0.057 | 102.565 |
| 5 |
 Matt Campbell  Mathieu Jaminet
| Porsche 911 GT3 R | 57 | 51.901 | 0.166 | 0.024 | 102.518 |
| 6 |
Russell Ward  Philip Ellis
| Mercedes AMG GT3 | 75 | 52.004 | 0.269 | 0.103 | 102.314 |
| 7 |
 Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor
| Corvette C8.R GTD | 63 | 52.085 | 0.350 | 0.081 | 102.155 |
| 8 |
Cooper MacNeil Jules Gounon
| Mercedes AMG GT3 | 63 | 52.138 | 0.403 | 0.053 | 102.052 |
| 9 |
Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz
| Lexus RC F GT3 | 61 | 52.156 | 0.421 | 0.018 | 102.016 |
| 10 |
Robby Foley Bill Auberlen
| BMW M4 GT3 | 61 | 52.164 | 0.429 | 0.008 | 102.001 |
| 11 |
Ross Gunn Alex Riberas
| Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 58 | 52.202 | 0.467 | 0.038 | 101.926 |
| 12 |
Ryan Eversley Aidan Read
| Acura NSX GT3 | 45 | 52.409 | 0.674 | 0.207 | 101.524 |
| 13 |
Bryan Sellers Madison Snow
| BMW M4 GT3 | 63 | 52.468 | 0.733 | 0.059 | 101.410 |
| 14 |
Ryan Hardwick  Jan Heylen
| Porsche 911 GT3 R | 69 | 52.557 | 0.822 | 0.089 | 101.238 |
| 15 |
 Roman De Angelis Maxime Martin
| Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 51 | 52.853 | 1.118 | 0.296 | 100.671 |
| View full results | |||||||
