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Charles Bradley

Petit Le Mans IMSA: Albuquerque heads Acura 1-2 in night practice

Albuquerque set the fastest tour on his very last lap of the session in Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Acura ARX-06, to beat the Meyer Shank Racing example of Tom Blomqvist by 0.003s.

The 10-hour race will finish in the darkness on Saturday and given IMSA’s yellow flag rules – coupled with a 54-car entry list around the undulating 2.54-mile road course – it’s highly likely that whoever is fastest in these conditions might scoop the race victory and the title.

But that was swayed with many drivers needing to complete their night driving allotment of time, so a lack of red flags was a total boon for that.

After 30 minutes of the 90-min session, Alexander Sims led the way in Action Express Racing’s Cadillac V-Series.R on 1m11.713s with Porsche Penske Motorsport’s WEC import Laurens Vanthoor and Chip Ganassi Racing’s IndyCar ace Scott Dixon within a tenth.

Jack Aitken extended the AXR Caddy’s advantage by improving to 1m11.612s, before Colin Braun put Acura P1 in MSR’s final outing with the ARX-06 with a time of 1m11.592s, which he improved to 1m11.440s.

Porsche’s Matt Campbell topped that in the #7 963 by 0.068s with 1m11.372s in the final half an hour before Tom Blomqvist struck back for MSR, having taken over from Braun, with 1m11.299s.

Albuquerque then made it an Acura 1-3 in the WTR ARX-06, 0.159s off the pace, until beating the MSR sister car by 0.003s with a final lap of 1m11.293s. Campbell was third, as Aitken and Vanthoor slipped back to fourth and fifth, ahead of Renger van der Zande’s CGR Caddy.

Neel Jani’s Proton-run Porsche 963 lost a wheel at the chicane just before the halfway point and became stranded in the pits for some time while repairs were made. Campbell suffered a brief off at Turn 10 and almost hit Jani’s errant wheel.

The RLL BMWs of Nick Yelloly and Augusto Farfus sandwiched the Proton Porsche, while Jenson Button got some serious night-time running in the JDC-Miller 963 but the car ended the session slowest in GTP in Mike Rockenfeller’s hands.

TDS Racing’s Mikkel Jensen set the pace in LMP2, ahead of Paul-Loup Chatin (PR1 Mathiasen), Christian Rasmussen (Era) and Scott McLaughlin (Tower).

In LMP3, Nico Varrone (AWA) led the way from Gabby Chaves (Andretti Autosport) and Garett Grist (Jr III).

In GTD Pro, Mirko Bortolotti set the pace in the Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan, ahead of birthday boy Bill Auberlen’s Turner-run BMW M4, who led the pro-am category.

 
 
     
Driver Info
 
 
Cla Drivers # Chassis Laps Time Interval km/h
1 United States R. Taylor Portugal J. Barbosa Switzerland L. Deletraz Konica Minolta Acura 10 Acura ARX-06 59 1'11.296   128.254
2 United Kingdom T. Blomqvist United States C. Braun Brazil H. Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian 60 Acura ARX-06 57 +0.003 0.003 128.249
3 Australia M. Campbell Brazil F. Nasr United States J. Newgarden Porsche Penske Motorsport 7 Porsche 963 57 +0.076 0.073 128.117
4 Brazil P. Derani United Kingdom A. Sims United Kingdom J. Aitken Action Express Racing 31 Cadillac V-LMDh 64 +0.316 0.240 127.688
5 United Kingdom N. Tandy France M. Jaminet Belgium L. Vanthoor Porsche Penske Motorsport 6 Porsche 963 55 +0.491 0.175 127.377
6 France S. Bourdais Netherlands R. van der Zande New Zealand S. Dixon Cadillac Racing 01 Cadillac V-LMDh 40 +0.503 0.012 127.356
7 United States C. de Phillippi United Kingdom N. Yelloly South Africa S. Van Der Linde BMW M Team RLL 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 68 +0.823 0.320 126.790
8 United Kingdom H. Tincknell Italy G. Bruni Switzerland N. Jani Proton Competition 59 Porsche 963 27 +0.916 0.093 126.627
9 Austria P. Eng Brazil A. Farfus Germany M. Wittmann BMW M Team RLL 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 64 +0.917 0.001 126.625
10 Netherlands T. van der Helm Germany M. Rockenfeller United Kingdom J. Button JDC/Miller Motorsports 5 Porsche 963 52 +1.260 0.343 126.027
11 United States S. Thomas Denmark M. Jensen United States S. Huffaker TDS Racing 11 ORECA 07 68 +1.537 0.277 125.547
12 United States B. Keating France P. Chatin
A. Quinn PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports
52 ORECA 07 63 +1.884 0.347 124.952
13 United States D. Merriman United Kingdom R. Dalziel
C. Rasmussen Era Motorsport
18 ORECA 07 57 +2.003 0.119 124.749
14 United States A. Balogh New Zealand S. McLaughlin United States K. Simpson Tower Motorsport 8 ORECA 07 55 +2.054 0.051 124.663
15 United States G. Kurtz United Kingdom B. Hanley
N. Siegel Crowdstrike Racing by APR
04 ORECA 07 58 +2.198 0.144 124.418
16 United States J. Falb Netherlands G. van der Garde United States J. Pierson TDS Racing 35 ORECA 07 68 +2.543 0.345 123.837
17 France F. Perrodo France M. Vaxiviere France E. Collard Af Corse 88 ORECA 07 57 +3.015 0.472 123.050
18 Denmark D. Andersen United Arab Emirates E. Jones Denmark A. Fjordbach High Class Racing 20 ORECA 07 58 +3.262 0.247 122.643
19 Canada A. Mantella United Kingdom W. Boyd
N. Varrone AWA
17 Duqueine M30-D08 49 +5.550 2.288 118.991
20 United States J. Andretti Colombia G. Chaves
G. van Andretti Autosport
36 Ligier JS P320 44 +5.696 0.146 118.766
21
N. Siegel
B. Garg
Canada G. Grist Jr III Racing
30 Ligier JS P320 45 +5.719 0.023 118.730
22 Canada O. Fidani United Kingdom M. Bell Germany L. Kern AWA 13 Duqueine M30-D08 32 +5.970 0.251 118.344
23 United States G. Robinson Brazil F. Fraga Australia J. Burdon Riley Motorsports 74 Ligier JS P320 22 +6.178 0.208 118.027
24 B. Thienes
J. Woolridge
Australia C. Shields Performance Tech Motorsports
38 Ligier JS P320 26 +6.353 0.175 117.761
25 United States T. Bechtolsheimer D. Goldburg Sweden R. Lindh JDC/Miller Motorsports 85 Duqueine M30-D08 57 +6.835 0.482 117.034
26 Italy M. Bortolotti South Africa J. Pepper
F. Perera Iron Lynx
63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 59 +8.507 1.672 114.582
27 United States B. Auberlen United States C. Hull United States T. Merrill Turner Motorsport 97 BMW M4 GT3 48 +8.602 0.095 114.446
28 United States D. Brule United States A. Udell France J. Andlauer Kellymoss with Riley 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R 45 +8.720 0.118 114.277
29 Spain D. Juncadella France J. Gounon Germany M. Engel WeatherTech Racing 79 Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo 48 +8.896 0.176 114.026
30 United States R. Hardwick Canada Z. Robichon Belgium J. Heylen Wright Motorsports 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R 45 +8.929 0.033 113.979
31 United Kingdom J. Hawksworth United Kingdom B. Barnicoat United States K. Kirkwood Vasser Sullivan 14 Lexus RC F GT3 55 +8.982 0.053 113.904
32 United States F. Montecalvo United States A. Telitz Canada P. Thompson Vasser Sullivan 12 Lexus RC F GT3 58 +9.010 0.028 113.864
33 United States P. Gallagher United States R. Foley United States M. Dinan Turner Motorsport 96 BMW M4 GT3 48 +9.033 0.023 113.832
34 United States P. Hyett
S. Priaulx
United States G. Jeannette AO Racing
80 Porsche 911 GT3 R 55 +9.111 0.078 113.721
35 United States A. Brynjolfsson United States T. Hindman United States M. Root Wright Motorsports 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R 48 +9.148 0.037 113.669
36 Italy A. Pier Guidi Brazil D. Serra Italy D. Rigon Risi Competizione 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 58 +9.171 0.023 113.637
37 United States B. Iribe Switzerland F. Schandorff United Kingdom O. Millroy Inception Racing 70 McLaren 720S GT3 53 +9.173 0.002 113.634
38 United Kingdom R. Gunn Spain A. Riberas United Kingdom D. Pittard Heart Of Racing Team 23 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 49 +9.219 0.046 113.569
39 Spain A. Garcia United States J. Taylor United States T. Milner Corvette Racing 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD 55 +9.233 0.014 113.549
40 Switzerland R. Frey Belgium S. Bovy France D. Pin Iron Dames 83 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 56 +9.310 0.077 113.441
41 Canada R. De Angelis Denmark M. Sorensen United Kingdom I. James Heart Of Racing Team 27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 45 +9.389 0.079 113.330
42 United States M. Skeen Canada M. Grenier United States K. Koch Team Korthoff Motorsports 32 Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo 52 +9.505 0.116 113.167
43 United States B. Sellers United States M. Snow United States C. Lewis Paul Miller Racing 1 BMW M4 GT3 55 +9.545 0.040 113.111
44 Canada M. Goikhberg Italy L. Spinelli
P. Liddy US RaceTronics
78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 50 +9.547 0.002 113.108
45 France S. Mann Spain M. Molina United Kingdom J. Calado Af Corse 61 Ferrari 296 GT3 54 +9.597 0.050 113.038
46 Austria K. Bachler France P. Pilet France K. Estre Pfaff Motorsports 9 Porsche 911 GT3 R 51 +9.611 0.014 113.019
47 United States R. Ward Switzerland P. Ellis Netherlands I. Dontje Winward Racing 57 Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo 51 +9.700 0.089 112.894
48
S. Monk
United Kingdom K. Legge United States M. Miller Gradient Racing
66 Acura NSX GT3 52 +9.989 0.289 112.493
49 O. Triarsi
C. Scardina
Italy A. Rovera Triarsi Competizione
023 Ferrari 296 GT3 45 +10.277 0.288 112.096
50 United States A. Harrison Costa Rica D. Formal Canada K. Marcelli Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR 93 Acura NSX GT3 18 +10.338 0.061 112.012
51 United States J. Potter United States A. Lally United States S. Pumpelly Magnus Racing 44 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 37 +10.481 0.143 111.816
52 Portugal J. Barbosa Sean Creech Motorsport 33 Ligier JS P320 0      
53 Italy R. Lacorte Italy G. Sernagiotto Italy A. Fuoco Cetilar Racing 47 Ferrari 296 GT3 0      
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