[h=2]IMSA: Mazda leads opening practice at Road America[/h] Friday, 05 August 2016
Marshall Pruett (words & images)
The pair of Mazda Prototypes went 1-2 in the opening 60-minute session in preparation for Sunday's Continental Road Race Showcase at Road America. The 1m56.623sec lap set by Jonathan Bomarito in the No. 55 Mazda was well clear of the sister No. 70 (-0.231) and Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 WTR Corvette DP (-0.717).
Mazda received a weight increase and power reduction heading into the event, and according to the team, turning laps equivalent to those attempted in qualifying was required to set the pace seen Friday afternoon.
IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is out in full force this weekend as all four classes are represented, and behind Prototype, PC was led by the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA FLM09-Chevy driven by Stephen Simpson. His 2m00.519sec lap was ahead of the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry (-0.21
and the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport car (-0.231).
Like Mazda in Prototype, Ford went 1-2 in GT Le Mans as Richard Westbrook's 2m03.453sec lap in the No. 67 GT put it ahead of the No. 66 GT (-0.370) and well clear of the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 (-0.714).
GT Daytona was responsible for the lone red flag during the session to recover the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 from its mild meeting with the tire barriers. Outside of that brief stoppage, the 15-deep class saw Bryan Sellers set a 2m08.018sec lap in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3, and thanks to the second-place lap turned by Jeroen Bleekemolen in the Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R (-0.191) and Andy Lally's third-place in the Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 (-0.266), the top three was represented by three V10-powered cars for a total of 30 cylinders.
UP NEXT: FP2 at 4:45 p.m. Central.
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