Jordan Taylor stole the quickest time from Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti teammate Filipe Albuquerque with 12m left in Thursday’s 1h25m second follow session for Saturday’s 10h Motul Petit Le Mans. Taylor’s 1m11.081s lap within the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 across the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta was good for a 126.64mph common.
A flurry of quick laps as groups examined setups for tomorrow afternoon’s qualifying session pushed Albuquerque’s No. 10 Acura additional down the order. First, Jack Aitken posted a time 0.078s wanting Taylor’s greatest for the second-quickest time. Aitken’s No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Sequence.R had led a lot of the session with Tom Blomqvist setting a fast time early on. Nick Tandy pushed Albuquerque to fourth with a 1m11.366s lap within the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963.
Philipp Eng accomplished the highest 5 within the No. 24 BMW M Group RLL M Hybrid V8, making it 4 producers within the prime 5. Sebastien Bourdais was sixth within the session, however maintained the highest time of the day after having set a 1m11.013s within the cooler first session.
“At present the automotive’s been very fast,” stated Bourdais’s teammate within the No. 01, Scott Dixon. “It’s notably troublesome to get a transparent lap, which I believe everyone’s battling. However whenever you do, the automotive actually comes alive. Cadillac has performed an excellent job and refining the automotive over time that we’ve been a part of this system. Hopefully we’ve bought the velocity and, when it comes all the way down to the final couple hours, we’re nonetheless within the struggle.”
Mikkel Jensen topped LMP2 with a 1m13.373s (124.62mph) lap within the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA. Connor Zilisch, after holding the very best time for many of the session, ended up a mere 0.001s off in second within the No. 18 Period Motorsport ORECA. That automotive would later trigger the one crimson flag of the session, a two-minute break, when it misplaced a left-rear wheel beneath braking for Flip 10 on Ryan Dalziel’s first flying lap. Dalziel bought the automotive again to the pits, and the group mounted it to get Dwight Merriman some take a look at time within the automotive.
Felipe Fraga was third for Riley Motorsports with a 1m13.786s time within the No. 74 ORECA. Paul-Loup Chatin (No. 99 AO Racing) and Nico Pino (No. 2 United Autosports) rounded out the highest 5.
Daniel Serra set the very best time in GTD PRO as Risi Competizione seeks to safe the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup with its No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3. His 1m18.722s (116.15mph) was 0.015s higher than Jack Hawksworth within the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3.
“The second session we improved lots in comparison with the primary session. We nonetheless have numerous work to do, particularly in tire degradation, which is kind of excessive at this monitor,” stated Serra. “I believe crucial session is the following one that’s cooler and when the race will end, so now we have to perceive what we now have to do with the automotive for that scenario and put together for it.”
Ross Gunn, trying to supplant Laurin Heinrich within the drivers championship, was third for Coronary heart of Racing within the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with a 1m18.768s lap.
Antonio Garcia was fourth within the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R, the final PRO automotive earlier than the highest two GTD vehicles, and Heinrich rounded out the highest 5 within the NO. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. There have been six totally different marques within the prime six, Ferrari the primary repeat in seventh.
These first two GTD vehicles up towards the quick finish of the general GTD discipline have been the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus with Parker Thompson on the wheel (1m18.916s) and Philip Ellis within the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG at 1m18.992. Robby Foley was third, behind Heinrich, with a 1m19.278s lap within the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. Simon Mann (No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari) and Mike Skeen (No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports) accomplished the highest 5. The highest 17 GT vehicles total have been inside a second.
The third follow session for Petit Le Mans, the 1h30m evening follow, begins at 7:30 p.m. ET.
