Image by Richard Dole/LAT
Acura, Ford lead second Glen practice
Dane Cameron’s stunning lap of 1m30.014s late in Friday’s second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice session led an Acura Team Penske 1-2 sweep at Watkins Glen International.
Cameron, driving the No. 6 Acura ARX-05, beat teammate Helio Castroneves’ best lap in the No. 7 Acura by 0.887s. Cameron’s lap was more than two seconds faster than the official IMSA track record, which is expected to fall in Saturday’s qualifying.
Record pace for Cameron in the Acura DPi. Image by LAT
“We’re really happy with where everything is at the moment,” said Cameron, who co-drives with Juan Pablo Montoya.
“Last year we had a lot of pace but just couldn’t put it all together. It’s nice for us in the No. 6 car, without winning last year, to get the monkey off our back and get a couple of wins in a row. It’s a lot of confidence for all the guys, and they’re executing at a real high level right now.
"Also, we’re having a lot of fun. Juan and I are really gelling well this year, and pushing each other to get better and better. No trophies for winning practice, but hopefully we’ll have a good race car for the Six Hours. We led for five hours and 15 minutes last year, but came up short at the end. Hopefully, we can seal the deal and get three in a row for Acura Team Penske and Juan and I.”
Jonathan Bomarito was third, running 1m31.185s in the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest RT-24P that led the morning with co-driver Harry Tincknell’s best lap of 1m30.690s.
Fourth was Renger van der Zande in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, followed by Colin Braun in the No. 54 CORE autosport Nissan Ligier JS P217.
Matt McMurry led LMP2, 1m35.640s in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA Gibson.
Westbrook keeps Ford ahead in GTLM
Ford Chip Ganassi’s Richard Westbrook led his second session of the day in GTLM, running 1m42.581s in the No. 67 Ford GT.
In an amazing turnaround, second was Antonio Garcia, at 1m42.559s in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R. Not happy with the data from that car at the beginning of the morning session, Corvette Racing sent that car immediately to the paddock -- with the team able to change engines in time for the start of afternoon practice.
Joey Hand was third in the No. 66 Ganassi Ford GT, with a 1m42.690s.
Magnus Racing's Lamborghini Huracan GT3 has set the GTD pace thus far. Image by LAT
Magnus fastest in again GTD
Spencer Pumpelly put Magnus Racing atop the GTD chart for the second straight session with a lap of 1m45.835s in the No. 44 Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Teammate Andy Lally was best in the morning at 1m45.406s.
“I’ve won this race twice – both times with Andy Lally as my co-driver,” Pumpelly said. “He was quick this morning, the car was fastest this afternoon, so optimism is running high at Magnus Racing. We can do a little bit more to make it even better for race day, but, so far, things are on track for the weekend.”
Scott Hargrove was second in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, followed by the No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth, the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 of Mario Farnbacher, and the No. 540 Black Swan Racing Porsche of Marco Seefried.
The No. 19 Moorespeed Audi R8 LMS GT3 -- involved in a Turn 5 accident at the end of the morning session with Will Hardeman at the wheel -- did not participate in the session.
https://twitter.com/IMSA/status/1144692249051185153
The session had one brief red flag stoppage, when the No. 84 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-V.R of Simon Trummer lost power in Turn 10 at the 23-minute mark. He was able to restart the car and return to the pits, although the car was finished for the day.
UP NEXT: The final one-hour practice will be held Saturday morning at 8 a.m. ET, followed by GTD qualifying at 11:35 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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