Mazda Motorsports’ Harry Tincknell was fastest overall in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice for Sunday’s Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Tincknell turned in a lap Saturday morning (Sept. 11) at 108.070 mph.
Practice No. 1
In the opening practice session Friday afternoon (Sept. 10), Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque was fastest overall with a lap at 107.596 mph. This lap came after the quick time was swapped four different times in the session. Albuquerque’s lap was just after the halfway point of the session.
Albuquerque’s lap was a little less than one-tenth of a second faster than the Cadillac of Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani. Tincknell was third, then JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Tristan Vautier. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kevin Magnussen was fifth. The top five drivers were separated by less than half a second.
LMP2 once again saw PR1 Mathaisen Motorsports on top of the lap chart. Mikkel Jensen ended up fastest in his Wynn’s-sponsored the No. 52 with a lap at 105.850 mph, good for sixth overall and ahead of the DPi Acura of Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian. Jensen’s lap was seven-eighths of a second faster than Era Motorsport’s Ryan Dalziel. Tower Motorsport by Starworks’ Gabriel Aubry was third, followed by Tristan Nunez.
Corvette Racing’s Nick Tandy was fastest in GT Le Mans with a lap at 98.157 mph, 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 was third.
In GT Daytona, Turner Motorsport’s Bill Auberlen was fastest for nearly the entire session. He turned in a quick in the first ten minutes, briefly got usurped, then came around to put himself back on top for good. Auberlen’s next lap was at 95.200 mph, which held up as the best GT Daytona lap of the session.
Auberlen’s lap, which was 14th overall, was nearly a half-second faster than PFAFF Motorsports’ Laurens Vanthoor. Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers was third quickest in his Lamborghini, followed by the Lexus of Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth. Gradient Racing’s Marc Miller was fifth quickest in his Acura.
There were no red flags during the 60-minute session. However, Dalziel did have a brief off-course excursion at turn 6. However, he was able to continue without issue.
IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP HYUNDAI MONTEREY SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIP PRACTICE NO. 1 RESULTS
Practice No. 2
The second practice session started in foggy conditions Saturday morning (Sept. 11). It was thick enough that at venues such as Daytona International Speedway, there likely would have been a hold due to visibility. However, practice still started right on time.
Much of the session was led by Derani’s Cadillac. However, Tincknell set the fastest lap of practice with seven minutes remaining in the session. It was a mere two-thousandths of a second faster than Derani. Albuquerque picked two-tenths of a second from Friday, but dropped to third. Mayer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Dane Cameron was fourth in his Acura, while Vautier was fifth.
LMP2 was topped by Dalziel with a lap at 104.546 mph. While this lap was slower than Jensen’s quick time on Friday, Era Motorsport owner Kyle Tilley (still on the shelf due to 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 quickest.
GT Le Mans was topped by the No. 4 Corvette once again, this time with Tommy Milner at the wheel. Milner turned in a lap at 98.639 mph, which was one-seventh of a second faster than Taylor. Campbell was another tenth of a second further back.
Sellers was quickest in GT Daytona with a lap at 95.644 mph, a lap that is more than two-tenths of a second faster than the current class record at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Trent Hindman was second in the Wright Motorsports Porsche with a lap right on top of the current class record, held by Katherine Legge. PFAFF Motorsports’ Zacharie Robichon was third fastest, then Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley and Vasser Sullivan’s Aaron Telitz.
IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP HYUNDAI MONTEREY SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIP PRACTICE NO. 2 RESULTS
Qualifying for the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET. The session will be streamed at both IMSA.com and NBC Sports’ TrackPass.
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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