Total Teamwork

Subtitle:JDC Teammates McMurry, Koch 1-2 In Road Atlanta Practice

BRASELTON, Ga. (Sept. 30, 2015) – JDC Motorsports continued its domination of Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, as teammates Matt McMurry and Kenton Koch led the two practice sessions Sept. 30 at Road Atlanta in preparation for the season-ending Rounds 13 and 14.

McMurry, 17, from Phoenix, was quickest overall with a top lap of 1 minute, 20.728 seconds in the No. 20 JDC Motorsports entry. His best lap was turned in the cooler morning session on the 12-turn, 2.54-mile circuit.

Newly crowned Lites 1 Drivers Champion Koch, from Glendora, California, was second quickest overall at 1:21.205 in the No. 60 JDC Motorsports car. That lap led the afternoon session, which took place in unexpected bright sunshine and muggy conditions with air temperatures in the low 80s.

“This is the first track I raced cars on, in Skip Barber, a couple of years ago,” McMurry said of Road Atlanta. “I’ve probably raced on it more than most tracks. It’s one of my favorite tracks because it’s so fast and so fun. There’s only corner that’s slow, and it’s not even that slow.

“I’ve had a lot of practice here and know the track really, really well. So it all adds up.”

JDC already has clinched its second consecutive Team Championship. JDC drivers Koch, Clark Toppe and McMurry are first, second and fourth, respectively, in the point standings entering the final two rounds of the season for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Official Development Series.

Robert Alon, from Encino, California, was third overall at 1:21.729 in the No. 00 Performance Tech Motorsports Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine on Cooper Tires.

Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, was fourth at 1:21.762 in the No. 10 JDC Motorsports entry. Austin Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah, rounded out the top five at 1:22.082 in the No. 16 Performance Tech Motorsports car.

Joel Janco, from Key Largo, Florida, led both sessions in the Lites 1 Masters class. His top lap of 1:22.661 came in the first practice in the No. 25 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.

Janco is locked in a tough fight for second in the Lites 1 Masters standings behind two-time reigning champion John Falb. Janco is second with 180 points, followed by Gerhard Watzinger of ONE Motorsports in third with 164 and Don Yount of Yount Motorsports in fourth at 156.

Todd Slusher, from Las Vegas, led both sessions in the Lites 2 class as he tries to keep alive his faint hopes for a Drivers Championship. Slusher’s top lap of 1:24.391 came in the morning practice in the No. 62 ONE Motorsports entry.

Slusher trails two-time defending Lites 2 champion Brian Alder by 10 points, 222-212, in the standings. With three Lites 2 cars in the field, Alder only needs to start Rounds 13 and 14 to seal his third consecutive championship.

“I’ve just got to go for it and see what happens,” Slusher said. “Hopefully I can keep it on track and get a couple wins. Who knows? It’s racing.”

Qualifying is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. (ET) Thursday, Oct. 1. Round 13, a 30-minute race, starts at 1:20 p.m. Thursday. Round 14, a 45-minute race, starts at 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2.

Follow IMSA on Facebook and @IMSA on Twitter with the hashtag #CTPL for updates on the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda.

Schedule

Qualifying: 9:30-9:50 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1

Round 13 (30 minutes): 1:20-1:50 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1

Round 14 (45 minutes): 8-8:45 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2

Race Coverage

Live timing: All on-track sessions at scoring.imsa.com and on the official IMSA App for iOS, Android and Windows

Twitter: Live text commentary from all sessions at @IMSALive