Serving Notice

Subtitle:Toppe Leads First Day Of Practice At Sebring

SEBRING, Fla. (March 16, 2016) – Clark Toppe did nothing during the first two practice sessions of the new Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires season to dispel the notion he may be the man to beat in 2016.

Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, entered this season as the top returning driver after finishing second in the Lites 1 championship in 2015. He started the 2016 season by leading practice Wednesday at Sebring International Raceway with a best lap of 2 minute, 1.135 seconds in the No. 10 JDC Motorsports entry.

Qualifying is scheduled for 8:40 a.m. (ET) Thursday, March 17, with the 30-minute Round 1 scheduled for 1:35 p.m. that afternoon. Round 2, a 45-minute race, starts at 8 a.m. Friday, March 18.

Second-year series driver Toppe was one of the few competitors to improve his time from the first practice in the cooler conditions of morning during the warmer afternoon session. He was fourth quickest at 2:02.404 in the first session, which was trimmed by about 10 minutes due to an incident.

“The first session, our plan got cut short because of the red,” Toppe said. “We were going to go out on stickers (new tires) in the morning session and never got to. The first half of the session we were just figuring out the setup and trying some stuff.

“The second session was really like a mock qualifying for us, just go out and push as hard as you can and see what happens.”

Toppe’s new JDC Motorsports teammate, fellow second-year driver Austin Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah, was second quickest overall at 2:01.462 in the No. 7 entry. That was the quickest time of the morning session.

Performance Tech Motorsports’ trio of series rookies occupied the next three spots. Patricio O’Ward, from Monterrey, Mexico, was third at 2:01.558 in the team’s No. 16 entry. Kyle Masson, from Windermere, Florida, was fourth at 2:02.154 in the No. 18 Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine on Cooper Tires. Pedro Cardoso, from Brasilia, Brazil, rounded out the top five at 2:02.248 in the team’s No. 43 entry.

Gerry Kraut, from St. Paul, Minnesota, led the Lites 1 Masters class in both sessions in the No. 55 JDC Motorsports entry. His top time was 2:02.586 in the morning session.

“It was hot and did change in the second session,” Kraut said. “There was not as much grip as the first session. But the car was set up perfectly, and I just got into a rhythm and enjoyed myself.

“I learned some things today, how to pick up a couple of tenths here or there, so I can use that in the race. It’s giving me confidence to do well in the race, hopefully.”

Max DeAngelis, from Belle River, Ontario, led the Lites 2 class at 2:08.203 in the No. 07 Eurosport Racing entry.

This event starts the 11th season of Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires competition. IMSA sanctions a seven-venue, 14-round schedule for the 2016 season. The series runs 10 of its 14 rounds during WeatherTech Championship events, including the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, providing plenty of high-profile visibility for teams and drivers at the largest sports car racing events in North America.

Follow IMSA on Facebook and @IMSA on Twitter with the hashtags #MazdaLites and #MRT24 for updates on the Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires.

Live timing for every practice session, qualifying session and race is available at IMSA.com and on the official IMSA mobile app available for iOS, Android and Windows.