Race Weekend Central

Stephen Simpson Quickest in WeatherTech Road America Practice No. 2

On Friday afternoon, track conditions continued to improve, allowing teams to run on slicks.  In the second practice session, JDC/Miller MotorSports’ Stephen Simpson was fastest overall with a lap of 115.057 seconds (126.657 mph).  The lap is approximately a half-second off of last year’s pole time.

Simpson’s lap was one tenth of a second faster than Action Express Racing’s Joao Barbosa in the No. 5 Cadillac DPi-V.R.  Dane Cameron in the second Action Express entry was third quickest, followed by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports’ Olivier Pla.  Tequila Patron ESM’s Scott Sharp was fifth quickest.

Prototype Challenge saw Performance Tech Motorsports’ Patricio O’Ward was fastest once again with a lap of 120.066 seconds (121.373 mph).  This lap was 1.8 seconds faster than Gustavo Yacaman in BAR1 Motorsports’ No. 26.

GT Le Mans saw Ford Chip Ganassi Racing jump to the forefront.  Dirk Müller put the No. 66 Ford GT on top of the charts with a lap of 123.967 seconds (117.553 mph), good enough for 12th overall.  Müller’s lap was a quarter of a tenth faster than Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia.

BMW Team RLL’s Bill Auberlen was third fastest, followed by Richard Westbrook in the No. 67 Ford.  Patrick Pilet was fifth fastest in the quickest of the Porsches.  The entire eight-car class was separated by just over a second over the 4.048-mile course.

In GT Daytona, CORE autosport’s Colin Braun was fastest with a lap of 126.963 seconds (114.779 mph).  For a team that has struggled in 2017, it is something to hold their heads high on.

Braun’s lap was two-hundredths of a second faster than Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers.  Park Place Motorsports’ Jörg Bergmeister was third quickest, followed by 3GT Racing’s Jack Hawksworth.  In a shakeup for just Road America, Hawksworth is sharing the No. 15 this week with Scott Pruett.  Turner Motorsport’s Jens Klingmann was fifth fastest.  The top five drivers were separated by just over one-eighth of a second.

Results of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Road Race Showcase Practice No. 2

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams have one more practice session at 9:55 a.m. EDT.  It will be one hour in length.

About the author

Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.

Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.

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