Image by Michael Levitt/LAT
Penske Acura 1-2 in final Sebring 12 practice
Acura Team Penske picked up the pace Friday morning at Sebring International Raceway, taking the top two positions in final practice for Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Dane Cameron led the 85-minute session with a weekend-best 1m46.643s lap in the No. 6 Acura DPi, only 0.033s faster than teammate Helio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura.
The final session prior to qualifying saw teams set the fastest laps of the weekend in all four classes. The practice will be followed after a 30-minute break by qualifying.
Filipe Albuquerque was third, 1m46.799s in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, followed by the two Mazdas. Tristan Nunez was fourth in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT-24P, 1m46.952s, followed by Jonathan Bomarito, 1m47.074 in the No. 77 entry.
Patrick Pilet returned Porsche to the top in GT Le Mans, running 1m56.635s in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR – the best lap of the weekend in the class. He was followed by the Ganassi Racing Ford GTs of Richard Westbrook (1m56.863 in the No. 67) and Dirk Mueller (1m56.957 in the No. 66).
Katherine Legge led the GTD competitors, running 2m0.012s in the No. 57 Caterpillar Acura NSX GT3. Next was Mirko Bortolotti, 2m0.029s in the No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3, and Trent Hindman in the No. 86 Curb Records Acura NSX GT3, 2m0.319s, giving Meyer Shank Racing two of the top three positions.
Gabriel Aubry gave PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports the fast lap for the fourth straight LMP2 session, running 1m50.269 in the No. 52 Profound/MEP/Drive Capitol/6eme Sens ORECA Gibson.
The No. 47 Precision Performance Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3, which suffered major front-end damage in a session two incident and missed night practice, was repaired and returned to action. Lawson Aschenbach was 14th fastest in the class.
UP NEXT: Fifteen-minute qualifying sessions begin at 9:55 a.m. for GTD; 10:20 a.m. for GTLM; and 10:45 a.m. for DPi/LMP2. That will be the final WeatherTech Championship on-track activity of the day, with the Michelin Pilot Challenge and FIA holding 10 hours of racing.
Saturday begins with a 20-minute warm-up at 8 a.m., with the 67th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring beginning at 10:40 a.m.
J.J. O'Malley
J.J. O’Malley became news editor for Chris Economaki in 1977, launching him on a career covering all facets of motorsports in many capacities. He did public relations at Watkins Glen International for 14 years; followed by four seasons at Homestead-Miami Speedway; news editor at ISC Publications (now Edgeset Marketing); and communications manager for Grand-Am and IMSA. He’s currently completing his 13th book on racing – a history of the Daytona Prototype – in addition to covering events for RACER.com, Edgeset Marketing and Sunday Group Management. O’Malley is an honorary member of the prestigious Road Racing Drivers Club.
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