Practice report

VIR IMSA: WeatherTech Porsche dominates first practice

Kevin Estre led opening practice at VIRaceway by almost eight-tenths of a second, as the Porsche 911 RSR again proved ideal for the course in Alton, Virginia.

Estre, in his first IMSA race since the season-opening Rolex 24 Hours, is racing at VIR for the first time since 2014. Yet he delivered a 1min41.124sec lap to emerge 0.797sec faster than the Corvette C8.R of Nick Tandy who was another half a tenth up on teammates and defending race winners Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.

In GT Daytona, Bill Auberlen had a six-tenth margin over the opposition in his Turner Motorsports BMW M6 until the last minute of the session, when Franck Perera bounced the Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini up to second, ahead of Ross Gunn’s Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.

Jack Hawskworth was the quickest of Vasser Sullivan Racing’s Lexus RC F drivers in fourth, ahead of Daniel Morad in the Alegra Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 and Jeff Westphal’s Carbahn with Peregrine Racing Audi R8.

With Wright Motorsports’ Pat Long next up in the faster of the Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, it meant that the top seven slots were filled by seven different marques.

Paul Miller Racing's Lamborghini Huracan completed barely a third of the laps of its rivals, as Bryan Sellers reported an electrical issue.

Second practice begins at 11.55am local (Eastern) time.

Cla	Driver	Class	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Cooper MacNeil Kevin Estre	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	29	1'41.124
2	Tommy Milner Nick Tandy	GTLM	Corvette C8.R	29	1'41.921	0.797
3	Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor	GTLM	Corvette C8.R	30	1'41.969	0.845
4	Bill Auberlen Robby Foley	GTD	BMW M6 GT3	30	1'44.391	3.267
5	Mikhail Goikhberg Franck Perera	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	27	1'44.666	3.542
6	Roman De Angelis Ross Gunn	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	28	1'45.029	3.905
7	Aaron Telitz Jack Hawksworth	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	23	1'45.090	3.966
8	Daniel Morad Michael de Quesada	GTD	Mercedes-AMG GT3	26	1'45.138	4.014
9	Richard Heistand Jeff Westphal	GTD	Audi R8 LMS GT3	25	1'45.291	4.167
10	Trent Hindman Patrick Long	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	27	1'45.431	4.307
11	Zacharie Robichon Laurens Vanthoor	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	29	1'45.483	4.359
12	Ian James Alex Riberas	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	22	1'45.674	4.550
13	Till Bechtolsheimer Mario Farnbacher	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	30	1'45.851	4.727
14	Frankie Montecalvo Zach Veach	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	28	1'45.887	4.763
15	John Potter Andy Lally	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	25	1'45.900	4.776
16	Mike Skeen Guy Cosmo	GTD	Mercedes-AMG GT3	22	1'45.935	4.811
17	Rob Ferriol Katherine Legge	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	26	1'46.211	5.087
18	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	9	1'47.149	6.025
View full results