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Motorsport
Motorsport
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David Malsher-Lopez

VIR IMSA: Hawksworth’s VS Lexus dominates second practice

The two Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RCFs were at the top of the charts after 10mins, with the GTD Pro car of Jack Hawksworth ahead of Frankie Montecalvo’s GTD example by around 1.1sec with a 1min43.984sec around the 3.27-mile course.

Then Bill Auberlen moved the Turner Motorsport BMW M4 to the top of GTD by half a second before handing over to Robby Foley. After 30mins of the 90min session, Aidan Read had driven the Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX to the top of GTD, 0.092 faster than Auberlen, while Ross Gunn’s Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage was up to fourth overall, second in GTD Pro, but still 0.666sec off Hawksworth’s qualifying simulation in the #14 Lexus.

With 55mins to go, the red flag came out when Ryan Hardwick crahsed the Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R at Turn 14. There wasn’t a huge amount of damage – remarkable given the location of the shunt – and he would be able to resume the session.

Five minutes after the red came the green and and Stevan McAleer wasted no time in moving the Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 into third in GTD.

IMSA Radio reported that Paul Miller Racing took its BMW back to the paddock with a floor/diffuser issue, and that NTE/SSR couldn’t even hit the track until 35mins to go because Jaden Conwright detected a rear brake problem as the car was originally heading to pitlane.

Cooper MacNeil in the WeatherTech Mercedes and Matt Campbell in the Pfaff Porsche had off-course excursions at Turn 17 with 25mins to go, while Montecalvo had his GTD Lexus stop temporarily on track at Turn 13 before resuming in a gentle coast to the pits with a possible fuel pump issue.

Conwright drove the NTE/SSR Lambo into fourth in class, just 0.039sec behind Mike Skeen who had improved the Korthoff Mercedes’ best time.

In the final 10mins there were several quali sims happening on track, particularly in GTD Pro, but Connor De Phillippi in the RLL-run BMW M4 was 0.836sec behind Hawksworth’s benchmark, and Antonio Garcia in the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R was 0.914sec down.

That meant Matt Campbell in the Pfaff Porsche was able to beat them both… although he was still almost 0.75sec from top spot.

Thus Hawksworth was top of GTD Pro by 0.666sec ahead of Gunn, with Campbell, De Phillippi and Garcia next. In GTD, Read led Auberlen, Skeen, Conwright and Montecalvo.

Cla Driver Class Chassis Laps Time Gap
1 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth
United Kingdom Ben Barnicoat
GTD PRO Lexus RC F GT3 26 1'43.984  
2 United States Ryan Eversley
Australia Aidan Read
GTD Acura NSX GT3 38 1'44.518 0.534
3 United States Robby Foley
United States Bill Auberlen
GTD BMW M4 GT3 43 1'44.610 0.626
4 United Kingdom Ross Gunn
Spain Alex Riberas
GTD PRO Aston Martin Vantage GT3 38 1'44.650 0.666
5 Australia Matt Campbell
France Mathieu Jaminet
GTD PRO Porsche 911 GT3 R 32 1'44.726 0.742
6 United States Connor de Phillippi
United States John Edwards
GTD PRO BMW M4 GT3 37 1'44.820 0.836
7 Spain Antonio Garcia
United States Jordan Taylor
GTD PRO Corvette C8.R GTD 40 1'44.898 0.914
8 United States Mike Skeen
United Kingdom Stevan McAleer
GTD Mercedes AMG GT3 36 1'44.940 0.956
9 United States Jaden Conwright
Marco Holzer
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 14 1'44.979 0.995
10 United States Frankie Montecalvo
United States Aaron Telitz
GTD Lexus RC F GT3 30 1'45.114 1.130
11 United States Robert Megennis
United States Jeff Westphal
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 32 1'45.338 1.354
12 United States Bryan Sellers
United States Madison Snow
GTD BMW M4 GT3 17 1'45.399 1.415
13 United States Russell Ward
Switzerland Philip Ellis
GTD Mercedes AMG GT3 35 1'45.439 1.455
14 Canada Roman De Angelis
Belgium Maxime Martin
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 32 1'45.584 1.600
15 United States Cooper MacNeil
France Jules Gounon
GTD Mercedes AMG GT3 35 1'45.679 1.695
16 United States Ryan Hardwick
Belgium Jan Heylen
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 35 1'45.740 1.756
17 United States Rob Ferriol
United Kingdom Katherine Legge
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 37 1'45.835 1.851
18 United States John Potter
United States Andy Lally
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 43 1'46.285 2.301
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