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.

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

     

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