IMSA: AXR Corvettes lead sweltering Sebring FP2

Rising temperatures and stifling humidity made for a toasty afternoon practice session for IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams, and for the second time today, Action Express Racing's Corvette DP duo topped Sebring's time sheet.

Where the No. 31 AXR car led FP1, the sister No. 5 piloted by Christian Fittipaldi took the lead in FP2. The Brazilian (1:53.850) was almost a half-second clear of Scott Pruett in the No. 31 (1:54.283), and in an unexpected twist, the No. 24 Alegra Motorsports Riley-BMW DP driven by Daniel Morad (1:54.334) took third. The No. 24 also accounted for the only red flag during the one-hour session when it stopped at Turn 3 with Cameron Lawrence behind the wheel. Michael Shank Racing's Olivier Pla was the fastest among the P2 cars (1:54.428), lapping 0.578 seconds slower than the best turned by Fittipaldi.

GT Le Mans found the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR of Nick Tandy atop the list of factory machines (2:00.041), barely edging Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R (2:00.070) and Alessandro Pier Guidi in the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 (2:00.282).

In the Pro-Am PC and GT Daytona classes, CORE autosport maintained its place as the fastest ORECA FLM09-Chevy with Mark Wilkins authoring the team's fastest lap (2:00.282). Michael Lyons was second in PC (1:57.087) driving the No. 88 Starworks Motorsport PC.

Mathias Lauda took the No. 98 Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage to P1 in GTD (2:03.692 ), and was a fraction of a second ahead of Alex Riberas in the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 (2:03.706) and Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper (2:03.743).

Michelin reports today's peak track temperature is 30 degrees higher than the French tire manufacturer recorded during the recent IMSA test at Sebring.

The final session of the day runs from 7:30-9 p.m.