Mazda Motorsports Leads Opening Practice Day At Mazda Raceway

Subtitle:Scuderia Corsa, CORE autosport & Team Seattle Lead Respective Classes

Making itself right at home at Mazda Raceway, the Mazda Prototypes ran 1-2 in both of Friday’s opening IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice sessions for Sunday’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Hometown driver Jonathan Bomarito of Monterey ran the quickest lap of the day in the afternoon session, running 1:18.139 (103.109 mph) in the No. 55 Mazda Prototype co-driven by Tristan Nunez. Earlier in the day, Joel Miller ran a lap of 1:18.564 (102.551 mph) in the No. 70 Mazda Prototype shared by Tom Long. Both laps unofficially bettered Johannes van Overbeek’s two-year-old track record of 1:18.651.

“It’s kind of storybook at the moment, and that’s a little frightening,” Bomarito said. “So far, so good, but it’s still early in the weekend. We’ve got another practice and qualifying tomorrow, and then the race on Sunday. Track conditions are going to keep changing, and it’s expected to get warmer. We’re just going to keep our heads down and stay focused.”

Friday’s activities included a pair of one-hour practice sessions for each of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship groups that will compete in a pair of two-hour races on Sunday. The Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda features the Prototype (P) and GT Le Mans (GTLM) classes at 11:15 a.m. PT on Sunday (live, FS1, 2 p.m. ET), followed by the Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes at 3:45 p.m. PT (live, FS2, 6:30 p.m. ET).

Scuderia Corsa led both GTLM sessions. Alessandra Pier Guidi ran the fastest lap of the day, 1:22.975 (97.099 mph) in the morning in the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GTE, while co-driver Daniel Serra led the afternoon hour, running 1:22.981 (97.092 mph)

Joey Hand was second in the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT, 1:23.047 (97.015 mph), followed by Richard Westbrook, 1:23.228 (96.804 mph) in the No. 67 Ford. GT.

Both classes unofficially bested the existing track records the PC/GTD group. Colin Braun paced PC with a lap of 1:19.673 (101.123 mph) in the No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09, followed by Renger van der Zande with a lap of 1:20.018 (100.687 mph) in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA FLM09. Van der Zande also posted the third-fastest lap, 1:20.396 (100.214 mph) in the team’s No. 88 Popcorn Sutton entry co-driven by Ashley Freiberg and Mark Kvamme.

Alex Job Racing had the top two cars in GTD. Mario Farnbacher ran 1:25.390 (94.353 mph) in the No. 23 Team Seattle/Heart of Racing Porsche GT3 R, followed by teammate Leh Keen, 1:25.543 (94.184 mph) in the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT3 R. Next was Joerg Bergmeister with a 1:25.660 (94.056 mph) in the defending race-winner Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

NOTEBOOK

·      Not quite sunny California, Friday’s activities took place in overcast and windy conditions with high temperatures in the mid-fifties. Sunny skies are forecast for both Saturday and Sunday, with highs in the low- to mid-70s.

·      The No. 96 aFe Power BMW M6 GT3 marks the first time in its 18-year history that Turner Motorsport is fielding a car that is not carrying its traditional blue-and-yellow paint scheme. For the next two races, the car driven by Bret Curtis and Jens Klingmann will feature the white, red, black and grey livery of aFe Power.

“It’s great to have such a strong partnership with a company and brand like aFe Power,” said team owner Will Turner. “Similar to many of our other valuable partners dating back to 1998, aFe Power is dedicated to providing a high quality product that can be used in race application and also sold with confidence to our customers.”

Turner Motorsport gave the BMW Z4 platform its first North American victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2014 with Dane Cameron and Markus Palttala, and will be looking to do the same for the BMW M6 GT3 this weekend.

Saturday’s activities begin with WeatherTech Championship PC and GTD practice at 9 a.m. PT, with Prototype and GTLM opening practice at 11:05 a.m. The Continental Tire Challenge race begins at 1:25 p.m., and will be streamed live on the FOX Sports GO app and IMSA.tv, beginning at 4:25 p.m. ET.  WeatherTech Championship qualifying begins at 4:30 p.m. PT (live, IMSA.tv, 7:30 p.m. ET).