IMSA: Mazdas retain advantage after FP2

The sister Mazda Prototypes shared leading the Prototype and GT Le Mans field on Friday at their home track Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The No. 70 Mazda P2 of Joel Miller and Tom Long led a 1-2 in the morning session with Jonathan Bomarito and Tristan Nunez following in the No. 55 entry, and they swapped positions in the afternoon with the No. 55 (1:18.139) well clear of the No. 70 (1:18.832).

Third-fastest went to the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2-Honda driven by Ozz Negri and John Pew (1:19.065). Best among the Daytona Prototypes was Ricky and Jordan Taylor in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP (1:19.444). The WTR DP was 0.356 seconds behind Miller in the morning and a full 1.305 seconds off of Bomarito in Free Practice 2.

"It's a textbook start to our weekend," Bomarito said.

"It's ironic - or convenient for Mazda that Mazda Raceway just fits our car really well. It's a medium to high-speed track that's very smooth so we can really run the P2 car low to the ground and capitalize on the downforce and ground effects of our car. We've been 1-2 in the first two sessions so we just need to keep our heads down and keep working hard. The guys have been doing a bunch of pit stop practice, driver change practice, and we're trying to check everything off the preparation list."

The No. 70 was one of many cars to miss the apex at the top of the hill as Prototypes and GTLMs did everything from sent dirt flying as they scrambled across the runoff to getting beached.

In GTLM, Scuderia Corsa followed a similar form with Mazda by leading both sessions. Daniel Serra and Alessandro Pier Guidi's No. 68 Ferrari 488 (1:22.981) headed a Ford GT 2-3 as the No. 67 driven by Ryan Briscoe and Westbrook (1:23.228) and the No. 66 driven by Joey Hand and Dirk Muller (1:23.338).

Up Next: Free Practice 3 Saturday morning from 11:05-11:50 a.m. PT.