Ricky Taylor learns LMP2 fast to lead opening CTMP IMSA practice

Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen enlisted the help of Ricky Taylor this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park; on Friday afternoon, Taylor set the fastest time in first practice for Sunday’s Chevrolet Grand Prix.

Aboard the No. 52 BHA/PR1 ORECA 07-Gibson, Taylor set the quickest time in LMP2 at 1m08.080s, about 25 minutes into the 90-minute practice session. Taylor’s top time is a new course record for LMP2 cars since 2019, when the category was separated from the premier DPi class.

Sebastián Álvarez went second quickest in the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA (1m08.178s), also below Matt McMurry’s previous LMP2 course record set in 2019.

Rounding out the top five in LMP2 were the No. 04 CrowdStrike by APR (Alex Quinn), No. 22 United Autosports USA (Ben Hanley) and No. 43 Inter Europol Competition (Tom Dillmann) cars, while Watkins Glen winners AO Racing were eighth fastest out of a slightly reduced nine-car field.

That reduction reflects a late scratch for Jon Field’s Intersport Racing team, which did not arrive this week, and brings the total car count down to 32 cars for this weekend’s race.

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ veteran stalwart Antonio García went quickest in GTD PRO, setting a 1m15.877s in the yellow No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. However, the margins were very close at the top.

Just 0.029s separated García from the best time set by Ben Barnicoat in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3. The Watkins Glen winner slotted ahead of the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO (Neil Verhagen) and the No. 4 Corvette (Tommy Milner) in third and fourth.

A great surprise in fifth was the No. 068 Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which runs in GTD PRO this weekend after a successful launch in GTD at Watkins Glen. Valentin Hasse-Clot was less than 0.3s back of class leader García.

The quickest time of all GT cars was set in GTD, however, where Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO set a 1m15.860s to lead his class.

Albert Costa in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO was second in the class, but co-driver Lorenzo Patrese brought out a red flag when he went off on the approach to Moss Corner and hit the tire barrier. Though the car resumed running after repairs, the No. 34 Ferrari will lose its fastest lap in qualifying tomorrow afternoon.

The same goes for the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, which brought out the second and final red flag of the day after Callum Ilott went off at the same spot. In this incident, the green and yellow Porsche sustained significant front-end damage.

Eduardo Barrichello was third fastest in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin, followed by Aaron Telitz in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus and Felipe Fraga in the No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3. Robert Wickens was seventh fastest in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette.

Practice 2 starts tomorrow at 10:35am ET.

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