On Thursday afternoon, the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge’s Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes took to the 3.4-mile long course at Watkins Glen International for their first of two 45 minute practice sessions.  The series has not raced in two full months, so a little rust might be expected.  In reality, New Jersey-based BodyMotion Racing picked right up from where they left off in Salinas.
Trent Hindman topped the overall and Grand Sport speed charts with a lap of 2:00.377 (101.681 mph) in his No. 12 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Â For the competition, that is not necessarily good news because Hindman and teammate Cameron Cassels have already won two races this season (Sebring and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) and have been fast out of the box.
Hindman’s lap was over a half a second faster than Billy Johnson, fresh from Le Mans in Multimatic Motorsports‘ No. 15 Ford Shelby GT350R-C. Â Team TGM has entered two Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsports this week. Â Veteran David Murry took the new No. 46 entry to third on the speed charts, a little more than one second off the pace. Â Teammate/team owner Ted Giovanis was ninth in the No. 64 Porsche.
Jack of all trades Tyler McQuarrie was fourth fastest in the No. 35 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport for CJ Wilson Racing, while Pierre Kleinubing was fifth quickest for Compass360 Racing. Â Marc Miller took the second (No. 33) CJ Wilson Racing Porsche to sixth on the charts.
In Street Tuner, Spencer Pumpelly turned in the fastest time in the No. 17 Porsche Cayman for Rennsport One with a lap of 2:06.760 (96.560 mph), good for tenth overall. Â Pumpelly was six-tenths of a second faster than teammate Connor Bloum in the No. 19 Cayman. Â Freedom Autosport‘s Andrew Carbonell was third quickest in the No. 26 Mazda MX-5, while the Caymans for Murillo Racing‘s Eric Foss and BodyMotion Racing’s Devin Jones were fourth and fifth.
Other notables include Ryan Eversley, fresh off his weekend sweep of Pirelli World Challenge’s GT-class at Road America, who makes his return to the series in HART’s No. 93 Honda Civic Si. Â Eversley was seventh quickest, 1.455 seconds off of Pumpelly’s fastest lap. Â In addition, CRG-I Do Borrow is debuting their newly acquired Nissan Altima Coupe. Â Owen Trinkler drove the pink and black Nissan to the 12th fastest time in class.
The IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge teams get one more chance to dial in their cars prior to qualifying. Â That is another 45 minute practice session that is scheduled for 8 a.m. Friday.
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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