Honda Paces WeatherTech Championship Practice For Sunday’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase At Road America

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (August 5, 2016) – Honda Ligier JS P2 driver Ozz Negri ran the fastest lap of the day in opening practice for Sunday’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, Round 9 of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (live, FS1, 4 p.m. ET).

Negri ran a best lap of 1:55.747 (125.9 mph) in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Curb Records/AERO Honda co-driven by John Pew. He edged out Mazda Motorsports driver Tristan Nunez by 0.118 seconds. Nunez was second with a lap of 1:55.865 (125.7 mph) in the No. 55 Castrol/ModSpace Mazda Prototype.

“We tried a couple of big changes, and it just shows the strength of the Michael Shank Racing team,” Negri said. “We went on the right path and made the right changes, and we just keep getting better and better. We're fighters. I think the car has good potential. It's only practice, but it builds the confidence of the team and that's what we need.”

Defending race winner Dane Cameron was third in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette Daytona Prototype, running 1:55.954 (125.6 mph), followed by Jordan Taylor, 1:55.976 (125.6 mph) in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP.

In the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, Joey Hand was quickest, running 2:03.415 (118.0 mph) in the No. 66 Ford GT. Lucas Luhr was second, 2:03.927 (117.5 mph) in the No. 100 BMW Team RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW M6 GTLM, followed by Giancarlo Fisichella, 2:03.959 (117.5 mph) in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE.

The top 12 GT Daytona (GTD) competitors unofficially broke James Davison’s two-year old track record. Spencer Pumpelly led the group with a lap of 2:07.078 (114.6 mph) in the No. 16 Change Racing Pertamina/Monster Energy Lamborghini Huracán GT3, followed by Mike Skeen, 2:07.118 (114.6 mph) in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Dodge Viper GT3-R, and Andy Lally, 2:07.138 (114.6 mph) in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3.

In Prototype Challenge, Colin Braun was fastest with a lap of 1:59.060 (122.3 mph) in the No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09, followed by Tom Kimber-Smith the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, 1:59.471, (122.0 mph), and points leader Renger van der Zande in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA, 1:59.619 (121.8 mph).

Maxwell Takes Record-Extending 14th GS Pole In Multimatic Motorsports Ford Shelby GT350R-C

Scott Maxwell won his fourth TOTAL Pole Award of the season in IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Grand Sport (GS) qualifying. The Canadian ran a lap of 2:22.487 (102.2 mph) in the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Shelby GT350R-C co-driven by Billy Johnson.

“I didn’t expect to win the pole, because we’ve been struggling today,” said Maxwell, who extended his series record to 14 career poles. “We made some late changes just before qualifying. The car was quite good, and I drove a good lap. I think that bodes well for tomorrow. Psychologically, it puts us in a good spot, but we know what we’re going up against. It’s going to be a long two and a half hours, for sure.”

Danny Burkett – a two-time pole winner this season – qualified second with a lap of 2:22.975 (101.9 mph) in the No. 33 CJ Wilson Racing ONE Capital Management/MotorOilMatters.org Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. C360R was third, with Paul Holton running 2:22.989 (101.9 mph) in the No. 76 AERO Advanced Paint Technology/Children’s Tumor Foundation Ford Shelby GT350R-C.

Lee Gives Goldcrest Motorsports First ST Pole

Andy Lee gave Goldcrest Motorsports its first TOTAL Pole Award in Street Tuner (ST) qualifying, turning a lap of 2:32.062 (95.8 mph) in the No. 22 Wright Automotive Group Porsche Cayman co-driven by Kris Wright. Lee turned his best lap early in the 15-minute session that was red-flagged for the stopped No. 7 Rebel Rock Racing Porsche Cayman of Sam Adams.

“I’m excited for Goldcrest and Wright Motorsports, because this is only our first year in the series fulltime,” Lee said. “We’re learning a lot. It’s a big milestone for us. Today was only the second time I’ve qualified in this series. Today was also the first time I’ve driven here on sticker tires, and I learned how they’re going to react. So I kind of know what to expect on the first lap tomorrow, and hopefully that will give us a leg up.”

Competitors had time for one flying lap following the resumption of the session, with Tyler Cooke coming up 0.010 seconds short giving the No. 84 BimmerWorld Racing OPTIMA Batteries BMW 328i its fourth pole of the season with a lap of 2:32.072 (95.8 mph). The top seven cars were within 0.675 seconds.

NOTEBOOK

• Mazda Motorsports was 1-2 in the first of two one-hour WeatherTech Championship practice sessions. Jonathan Bomarito led the opening round with a lap of 1:56.623 (124.9 mph) in the No. 55 Castrol/ModSpace Mazda Prototype, followed by Joel Miller, who ran 1:56.854 (124.7 mph) in the No. 70 Mazda he shares with Tom Long.

“It’s a great feeling for the team to have both cars unloaded with really good balance, it shows the work of the Mazda and SpeedSource engineering,” Bomarito said. “The good news is we’re fast right out of the box; now we have to put our heads down, try to make smart changes and not lose sight of the main goal. We’ve got to put it all together – have perfect pit stops, perfect strategy, perfect driving, along with a little luck with the caution flags and in traffic. To win in this series, everything has to be perfect.”

• Both Murillo Racing cars were involved in a three-car incident during the first flying lap of Friday morning’s opening practice. Jeff Mosing spun in the Kink in the No. 56 Murillo Racing/Mosing Motorcars Porsche Cayman, tagged the barrier and bounced back onto the racing surface. A number of cars checked up to avoid Mosing, with Tim Probert in the No. 65 Murillo Racing BMW 328i running into the back of the slowed No. 81 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i of Jerry Kaufman.

The No. 81 BMW was packed up on the BimmerWorld hauler and is out of the event. The No. 65 BMW will be taken to a nearby frame shop for repairs, with the team hoping to have it ready for the race. Murillo Racing managed to repair the damaged No. 56 Porsche, with Mosing qualifying 10th.

Saturday’s schedule includes Round 7 of the Continental Tire SportsCar Championship at 11:25 a.m. CT, followed by WeatherTech Championship qualifying at 2:50 p.m. Final WeatherTech Championship practice begins at 9:25 a.m. Activities also include races for the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama at 4:40 p.m., and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo at 5:50 p.m.