Koch Paces Watkins Glen Practice

Subtitle:Series Leader Gains Speed In First Trip To Historic Track

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 25, 2015) – Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda Lites 1 championship leader Kenton Koch was the quickest overall driver in two practice sessions Thursday at Watkins Glen International.

Koch, from Glendora, California, turned his top lap of 1 minute, 44.708 seconds during the afternoon session in the No. 60 JDC Motorsports entry. He was second quickest in the morning session behind Austin Versteeg of Performance Tech Motorsports in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Official Development Series.

This is the first time series rookie Koch has competed at the historic 11-turn, 3.4-mile layout at Watkins Glen.

“The really big difference was just track time,” Koch said of his quicker pace in the second practice. “I’ve never been here before. We figured out a couple little things in the car. We were bottoming out in some spots, and we fixed that. Now I’m able to be a little more aggressive with the car.

“The car is solid now, so tomorrow is going to be really good for qualifying. It’s going to be fun.”

Qualifying starts at 9 a.m. (ET) Friday. Round 5 of the season, a 30-minute race, starts at 2:05 p.m. Round 6, a 45-minute race, starts at 8:05 a.m. Saturday.

Robert Alon, from Encino, California, was second overall in practice Thursday at 1:45.083 in the No. 00 Performance Tech Motorsports entry. Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah, ended up third overall with his session-leading morning practice lap of 1:45.628 in the No. 16 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.

Clark Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, was fourth at 1:46.171 in the No. 10 JDC Motorsports Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine. Matt McMurry, from Phoenix, rounded out the top five at 1:46.610 in the No. 20 JDC Motorsports car.

Reigning Lites 1 Masters champion John Falb, from Las Vegas, led that class with a top lap of 1:47.067 in the No. 77 ONE Motorsports entry.

Two-time defending Lites 2 champion Brian Alder, from Dublin, Ohio, led both sessions for the class. His top time was 1:49.232 during the second session in the No. 22 BAR1 Motorsports entry.

Race Coverage

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