Mazda Motorsports’ Harry Tincknell was fastest overall in training for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship on Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Tincknell did a lap at 108,070 mph on Saturday morning (September 11th).
Exercise No. 1
In the opening practice session on Friday afternoon (September 10th), Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque was the fastest overall winner with a lap time of 107.596 mph. This lap came after the fast time was swapped four times in the session. Albuquerque’s lap was just halfway through the session.
Albuquerque’s lap was a little less than a tenth of a second faster than Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani Cadillac. Tincknell finished third, then Tristan Vautier from JDC-Miller MotorSports. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kevin Magnussen finished fifth. The first five drivers were less than half a second apart.
In the LMP2, PR1 Mathaisen Motorsports again led the lap table. Mikkel Jensen finished fastest in his Wynn’s sponsored number 52 with a lap at 105,850 mph, good for sixth overall and ahead of Meyer Shank Racing’s DPi Acura with Curb-Agajanian. Jensen’s lap was seven eighths of a second faster than Era Motorsport’s Ryan Dalziel. Tower Motorsport of Starworks’ Gabriel Aubry finished third, followed by Tristan Nunez.
Corvette Racing’s Nick Tandy was the fastest in GT Le Mans with a speed of 98,157 mph, which is good for 11th overall. Tandy’s lap was about an eighth of a second faster than teammate Jordan Taylor, while WeatherTech Racing’s Matt Campbell finished third.
In GT Daytona, Bill Auberlen from Turner Motorsport was the fastest for almost the entire session. He turned quickly in the first ten minutes, was snatched for a moment, then came around to finally put himself back on top. Auberlen’s next lap was at 95,200 mph, which was considered the best GT Daytona lap of the session.
Auberlen’s lap, which was 14th overall, was almost half a second faster than Laurens Vanthoor from PFAFF Motorsports. Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers was third in his Lamborghini, followed by Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth’s Lexus. Gradient Racing’s Marc Miller was fifth fastest in his Acura.
There were no red flags during the 60 minute session. However, Dalziel had a short detour outside of the course at Turn 6. However, he was able to continue driving without any problems.
Exercise No. 2
The second training started on Saturday morning (September 11th) in foggy conditions. It was thick enough that venues like Daytona International Speedway would likely have stopped due to the visibility. Nevertheless, the training started on time.
Much of the session was chaired by Deranis Cadillac. However, Tincknell drove the fastest practice lap with seven minutes remaining. It was only two-thousandths of a second faster than Derani. Albuquerque took two tenths of a second on Friday but dropped to third place. Mayer Shank Racing with Dane Cameron von Curb-Agajanian finished fourth in his Acura while Vautier finished fifth.
LMP2 was surpassed by Dalziel with a lap of 104,546 mph. While this lap was slower than Jensen’s fast time on Friday, Era Motorsport owner Kyle Tilley (still on the shelf due to an injury) was very happy.
P1. Ryan MF Dalziel 🔥Our @EraMotorsport @Oreca is a rocket ship pic.twitter.com/a7ytcBcuzu
– Kyle Tilley (@KyleTilley) September 11, 2021
Dalziel’s lap was two tenths of a second faster than Jensen while Aubry was third. Nunez was fourth fastest.
GT Le Mans was again led by the Corvette No. 4, this time with Tommy Milner at the wheel. Milner did a lap at 98.639 mph, which was a seventh of a second faster than Taylor. Campbell was another tenth of a second behind.
Sellers was fastest in GT Daytona with a lap time of 95.644 mph, a lap more than two tenths of a second faster than the current class record at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Trent Hindman finished second in the Wright Motorsports Porsche with one lap at the top of Katherine Legge’s current class record. Zacharie Robichon from PFAFF Motorsports was third fastest, followed by Robby Foley from Turner Motorsport and Aaron Telitz from Vasser Sullivan.
Qualifying for the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET. The session will be streamed on both IMSA.com and NBC Sports’ TrackPass.
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