Image by Galstad/LAT
Derani leads AXR 1-2 in evening practice for Petit Le Mans
Action Express Racing Cadillacs went 1-2 in Thursday’s 90-minute night practice for the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Derani led the session, 1m9.455s in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, +.198s ahead of teammate Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling entry.
“The Whelen Cadillac felt good,” Derani said. “We’re working hard on the balance for the race. I love this track. Hopefully, we can continue to improve all the way through the race.”
Ricky Taylor was third, +.273s in the No. 7 Team Penske Acura ARX-05, followed by Tristan Vautier, +.48s in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac.
Next was Oliver Jarvis, +.486s in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT-24P, followed by Colin Braun, +.537s in the No. 54 CORE autosport Nissan JSP 217.
The top 10 DPis were separated by 1.1s.
https://twitter.com/MichelinRaceUSA/status/1182439609424318465
LMP2 was also very close as Gabriel Aubry ran 1m11.689s in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA Gibson, +.042s ahead of Kyle Masson in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.
Dirk Mueller led GTLM, 1m16.552s in the final run for the No. 67 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT. He was followed by Tom Blomqvist, +.237s in the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M8 GTLM, and Ryan Briscoe, +.256s in the No. 66 Ford GT. The nine GTLM entries were separated by .613s.
GTD saw veteran Bill Auberlen top the chart, 1m19.311s in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3. He was followed by Jeroen Bleekemolen, +.064 in the No. 33 Wynns/Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3, and Spencer Pumpelly. +.097s in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
The No. 48 Paul Miller Racing 1st Phorm Lamborghini Huracan GT3 was fourth fastest in GTD in its first appearance after an incident during morning practice resulted in suspension damage. Bryan Sellers’ best lap was 1m19.991s.
The lone red flag waved at the midway point when Rene Binder went off into the Turn 10 gravel trap in the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. Otherwise, the session ran incident free.
UP NEXT: Friday opens with the fourth WeatherTech Championship practice from 10:10-10:55 a.m. ET. Qualifying begins with a 15-minute GTD session at 3:55 p.m., followed by GTLM at 4:20 p.m. and DPi/LMP2 at 4:45 p.m.
Saturday opens with a 20-minute warm-up at 9:30 a.m., with the Motul Petit Le Mans set to start at 12:05 p.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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