Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Motorsport
Motorsport
Sport
David Malsher-Lopez

Watkins Glen IMSA: Acura sets pace again in second practice

The Andretti Autosport LMP3 entry caused a red flag, while there were other spins but without session stoppage for other LMP3 cars, as well as Frits van Eerd in the Racing Team Nederland LMP2 car and Luis Perez Companc in AF Corse’s GTD-class Ferrari 488.

But the DPi class didn’t take long to gain a familiar look, with yesterday’s pacesetting Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05, driven by Oliver Jarvis on top, again chased by Renger van der Zande in the Chip Ganassi Racing #01 Cadillac DPi-V.R and Ricky Taylor in Wayne Taylor Racing’s Acura. With 50mins down, the big difference compared with yesterday was that the top trio were covered by a mere 0.15sec.

That’s when the second red flag of the session came out. Kyffin Simpson in the Gradient Racing Acura NSX and Katherine Legge’s Team Hardpoint Porsche 911 GT3 R were off at Turn 6.

The retrieval of those cars and the repair of the wall took almost 15mins, and when action resumed, van der Zande turned a 1min31.232sec to move to the top of the times, before handing off to Sebastien Bourdais. Meanwhile, their teammate Earl Bamber made it a Ganassi 1-2, with a lap of the 3.4-mile track just 0.18sec slower.

With 20mins to go, there was another red flag, as the MLT Motorsports car of Josh Sarchet went off at the Bus Stop chicane and needed restarting.

The recommencement of track activities saw Filipe Albuquerque in the WTR Acura set by far the fastest time of the weekend, his 1min30.358sec run putting him on top by 0.874sec.

However, Bamber delivered a very impressive 1min30.096, and then yesterday’s pacesetter Tom Blomqvist twice ducked under the 90sec barrier his best effort producing a 1min29.581sec in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura. Bamber responded but came up 0.239sec short.

Albuquerque came a lot closer, punching in a 1min29.672sec, followed by a 1min29.607 – a mere 0.026sec slower than Blomqvist.

Six tenths behind Bamber was teammate Sebastien Bourdais in the #01 CGR Caddy, while Olivier Pla was fifth in the Action Express Racing Cadillac. Jimmie Johnson was seventh in the sister car, some 2.3sec off top spot and survived a huge spin in the dying minutes.

Giedo van der Garde in the Racing Team Nederland entry emerged with top LMP2 time, almost 0.8sec ahead of Mikkel Jensen of PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, and the impressive Sebastian Montoya of DragonSpeed, while Jonathan Bomarito was a further 0.4sec back in the second PR1 car.

Sean Crech Motorsport’s Ligier set the fastest time in LMP3, 0.4sec ahead of Dakota Dickerson’s best in the recently stricken MLT car, with Colin Braun third for CORE autosport, and Matt Bell in the Forty7 Motorsports.

GTD Pro was led by Vasser Sullivan Racing’s #14 car piloted by Ben Barnicoat, ahead of Ross Gunn in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage and Mathieu Jaminet’s Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

In GTD, Stevan McAleer put the Team Korthoff Mercedes AMG GT3 on top, a mere 0.032sec ahead of Turner Motorsports’ BMW M4, with Simpson’s stricken Gradient Acura retaining third ahead of Jaden Conwright in the NTE/SSR Lamborghini Huracan.

Qualifying begins at 1.20pm local (Eastern) time.

Cla Driver Class Chassis Laps Time Gap
1 United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
DPi Acura DPi 36 1'29.581  
2 United States Ricky Taylor
Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
DPi Acura DPi 35 1'29.607 0.026
3 New Zealand Earl Bamber
United Kingdom Alex Lynn
DPi Cadillac DPi 41 1'29.820 0.239
4 Netherlands Renger van der Zande
France Sébastien Bourdais
DPi Cadillac DPi 37 1'30.418 0.837
5 France Olivier Pla
Brazil Pipo Derani
United Kingdom Mike Conway
DPi Cadillac DPi 39 1'30.529 0.948
6 France Tristan Vautier
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
France Loic Duval
DPi Cadillac DPi 38 1'31.302 1.721
7 Germany Mike Rockenfeller
Japan Kamui Kobayashi
United States Jimmie Johnson
DPi Cadillac DPi 33 1'31.878 2.297
8 Netherlands Frits van Eerd
Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
United States Dylan Murry
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 39 1'32.771 3.190
9 United States Ben Keating
Denmark Mikkel Jensen
United States Scott Huffaker
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 39 1'33.555 3.974
10 Sweden Henrik Hedman
Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya
Colombia Sebastian Montoya
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 36 1'33.580 3.999
11 United States Steven Thomas
United States Josh Pierson
United States Jonathan Bomarito
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 43 1'33.986 4.405
12 United States Dwight Merriman
United Kingdom Kyle Tilley
United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 39 1'34.406 4.825
13 Denmark Dennis Andersen
Denmark Anders Fjordbach
Switzerland Fabio Scherer
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 43 1'34.507 4.926
14 Canada John Farano
Switzerland Louis Deletraz
Portugal Rui Andrade
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 42 1'34.786 5.205
15 Portugal Joao Barbosa
Malthe Jakobsen
United States Lance Willsey
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 38 1'39.669 10.088
16 United States Dakota Dickerson
Josh Sarchet
Tyler Maxson
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 23 1'40.067 10.486
17 United States Jon Bennett
United States Colin Braun
United States George Kurtz
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 29 1'40.378 10.797
18 Canada Anthony Mantella
United Kingdom Matthew Bell
United Kingdom Wayne Boyd
LMP3 Duqueine D08 29 1'40.598 11.017
19 United States Jarett Andretti
Josh Burdon
Colombia Gabby Chaves
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 33 1'40.701 11.120
20 United States Gar Robinson
Brazil Felipe Fraga
Netherlands Kay van Berlo
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 35 1'40.769 11.188
21 Daniel Goldburg
Sweden Rasmus Lindh
Australia Cameron Shields
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 39 1'40.866 11.285
22 United States Ari Balogh
Canada Garett Grist
Nolan Siegel
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 36 1'41.172 11.591
23 Ugo De
Danny Formal
United States Dillon Machavern
LMP3 Duqueine D08 33 1'41.508 11.927
24 Canada Orey Fidani
Canada Kyle Marcelli
Germany Lars Kern
LMP3 Duqueine D08 39 1'41.744 12.163
25 Nico Varrone
United States Max Hanratty
Canada James Vance
LMP3 Duqueine D08 35 1'43.402 13.821
26 United Kingdom Ben Barnicoat
United States Kyle Kirkwood
GTD PRO Lexus RC F GT3 29 1'45.338 15.757
27 United States Mike Skeen
United Kingdom Stevan McAleer
Germany Dirk Muller
GTD Mercedes AMG GT3 32 1'45.388 15.807
28 United States Robby Foley
United States Bill Auberlen
Michael Dinan
GTD BMW M4 GT3 35 1'45.420 15.839
29 United Kingdom Ross Gunn
Spain Alex Riberas
GTD PRO Aston Martin Vantage GT3 34 1'45.476 15.895
30 Australia Matt Campbell
France Mathieu Jaminet
GTD PRO Porsche 911 GT3 R 34 1'45.496 15.915
31 United States Connor de Phillippi
United States John Edwards
Brazil Augusto Farfus
GTD PRO BMW M4 GT3 29 1'45.516 15.935
32 United States Cooper MacNeil
Germany Maro Engel
Canada Mikael Grenier
GTD PRO Mercedes AMG GT3 36 1'45.707 16.126
33 Brazil Daniel Serra
Italy Davide Rigon
GTD PRO Ferrari 488 GT3 37 1'45.715 16.134
34 Kyffin Simpson
United States Till Bechtolsheimer
Germany Mario Farnbacher
GTD Acura NSX GT3 23 1'45.742 16.161
35 United States Jaden Conwright
Marco Holzer
United States Don Yount
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 34 1'45.844 16.263
36 United States Bryan Sellers
United States Madison Snow
Sweden Erik Johansson
GTD BMW M4 GT3 35 1'45.854 16.273
37 Italy Roberto Lacorte
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto
Italy Antonio Fuoco
GTD Ferrari 488 GT3 34 1'45.999 16.418
38 United States John Potter
United States Andy Lally
United States Spencer Pumpelly
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 38 1'46.061 16.480
39 Spain Antonio Garcia
United States Jordan Taylor
GTD PRO Corvette C8.R GTD 33 1'46.092 16.511
40 United States Frankie Montecalvo
United States Aaron Telitz
United States Richard Heistand
GTD Lexus RC F GT3 26 1'46.251 16.670
41 United States Brendan Iribe
United Kingdom Ollie Millroy
South Africa Jordan Lee Pepper
GTD McLaren 720S GT3 37 1'46.285 16.704
42 United States Robert Megennis
United States Corey Lewis
United States Jeff Westphal
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 34 1'46.290 16.709
43 United States Russell Ward
Switzerland Philip Ellis
Germany Marvin Dienst
GTD Mercedes AMG GT3 35 1'46.291 16.710
44 Jon Miller
United States Paul Holton
United States Patrick Gallagher
GTD McLaren 720S GT3 30 1'46.314 16.733
45 Canada Roman De Angelis
Belgium Maxime Martin
United Kingdom Ian James
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 34 1'46.343 16.762
46 United States Ryan Hardwick
Canada Zacharie Robichon
Belgium Jan Heylen
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 35 1'46.360 16.779
47 United States Rob Ferriol
United Kingdom Katherine Legge
United Kingdom Stefan Wilson
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 23 1'46.585 17.004
48 France Simon Mann
Argentina Luis Perez Companc
Finland Toni Vilander
GTD Ferrari 488 GT3 38 1'46.693 17.112
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.