BMW Performance 200 Practice Kicks Off Daytona Weekend

Picking up where he left off at the Roar Before the Rolex 24, Billy Johnson led Wednesday’s opening Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge practice with a lap of 1:57.559 (109.018 mph) in the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports/Miller Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302R. Two weeks ago, Johnson led Grand Sport (GS) competitors with an unofficial track record lap of 1:55.794 (110.697 mph).

Johnson was not on top for long, though, as Lawson Aschenbach led the second one-hour session with the fastest lap of the day, running 1:56.943 (109.592 mph) in the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R. Robin Liddell – absent from the Roar – was second in the opening practice with a lap of 1:57.625 (108.956 mph) in the No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R, followed by Mike McGovern, who ran 1:57.689 (108.897 mph) in the No. 2 Jim Click Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302R.Johnson was second in the latter session, running 1:56.943 (109.554), followed by Andy Lally, 1:57.161 (109.388 mph) in the No. 08 Rebel Rock Racing Porsche 911.Isman, Miller Lead ST SessionsAdam Isman had a solid showing in his first drive for the new Rennsport One team, running the fastest lap of the day in the Street Tuner (ST) class, 2:05.460 (102.152 mph) in the No. 18 RS1 Porsche Cayman.Jon Miller led Street Tuner (ST) competitors in the opening hour with a lap of 2:05.909 (101.788 mph) in the Rennsport One Porsche Cayman.Second in both sessions was Justin Piscitell, running 2:05.643 (102.003 mph) in the second session after running 2:06.012 (101.705 mph) in the opener in the No.  56 Murillo Motorsports/Mosing Motorcars Porsche Cayman. Piscitell is subbing for defending BMW Performance 200 pole and race winner Jeff Mosing this weekend, and will co-drive with defending ST champ Eric Foss. Rounding out the top three in ST was James Clay, running 2:06.120 (101.618 mph) in the No. 84 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i. Terry Borcheller was third in the afternoon with a lap of 2:05.739 (101.925 mph).The Continental Tire Challenge competitors will have a final 30-minute practice session on Thursday, beginning at 1:20 p.m. (ET), followed by qualifying at 2:10 p.m. The two-hour, 30-minute BMW Performance 200 begins at 1:45 p.m. on Friday, and will be streamed live on IMSA.com.