Heinrich keeps Porsche Penske on top in Petit Le Mans night practice

In the final night-time practice for IMSA's 29th Motul Petit Le Mans, the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 and championship contender Laurin Heinrich set the fastest lap around Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, just as they did earlier this afternoon in Practice 2.

Heinrich set a 1m11.643s to lead Practice 3, a second slower than his fastest time from the afternoon, but still nearly 0.4s up on the next-fastest car. 

The two Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06es finished second and third, led by Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60, ahead of Nick Yelloly in the No. 93. Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R and Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8 were fourth and fifth in GTP.

Kévin Estre in the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 was seventh, but Estre was also involved in a collision that brought out the only red flag of the session. The Frenchman made contact with the No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports ORECA LMP2 down at the turn 10 complex, leaving both damaged and the No. 73 stranded long enough for Race Control to throw a red flag.

The No. 6 Porsche was given a 60-second stop and hold penalty served after it was repaired; it will lose its fastest lap in Qualifying tomorrow. Meanwhile the championship-leading No. 31 Whelen Cadillac was mired down in ninth spot.

LMP2 was led by AO Racing, this time with Rockie the Pegasus standing in for Spike the Dragon. The No. 99 AO Racing ORECA 07-Gibson set a 1m13.145s in the hands of its Designated Silver, Jonny Edgar.

In second was the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA (Tom Dillmann) followed by the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA (Alex Quinn).

Daniel Goldburg had better luck tonight when he was sideswiped by the No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie entering turn 10A – it took some time for Goldburg to find his way back on track, but he and the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA, repaired after Goldburg’s crash in Practice 2, were able to resume running.

Fastest in GTD Pro was recent Formula 2 departure Nico Varrone in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R, who hadn’t missed a beat in his first IMSA race in seven months as he set a 1m19.527s.

Fellow F2 alum Max Esterson was second in the No. 59 RLL Team McLaren 720S GT3, and Ben Barnicoat was third-quickest in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3.

GTD title contender Robby Foley led the class with a 1m19.881s in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO; Vasser Sullivan’s No. 12 Lexus was second in the hands of Benjamin Pedersen, and Tom Sargent was third in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Elsewhere in GTD, Felipe Fraga in the No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford ran what had to be a scary lap around Road Atlanta with no headlights after an electrical issue popped up in the Mustang.

On-track action from Road Atlanta has concluded for the evening, and Qualifying for Petit Le Mans starts tomorrow afternoon at 2:20 PM ET (local time).

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