[h=2]WTR leads opening IMSA Long Beach practice[/h] Friday, 07 April 2017



By Marshall Pruett (words and images)

Wayne Taylor Racing spoiled Tequila Patron ESM's morning when Jordan Taylor moved the No. 10 Cadillac DPi-V.R to the top of the time sheet on the final lap of the two-hour session. Ryan Dalziel came within one minute of ending the opening Long Beach WeatherTech SportsCar Championship session with his No. 2 Nissan DPi Onroak as the fastest of the 35 cars in attendance, and the first car to break Cadillac's stranglehold on the Prototype class.

Taylor (1m14.982s) put a considerable distance between his DPi and the Nissan (+0.493s) and the No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R (+0.607).

The Porsche GT Team recorded a 1-2 in GT Le Mans as the Nos. 911 (1m18.670s) and 912 (1m18.781s) Porsche 911 RSRs of Patrick Pilet and Kevin Estre led Jan Magnussen's No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R (+0.159s). GT Daytona, making its Long Beach debut, featured the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 as the fastest among the 16 GTD entries.

PMR's Bryan Sellers (1m19.925s) topped the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG driven by Jeroen Bleekemolen (+0.063s) and Alegra Motorsports' Michael Christiansen in the No. 28 Porsche (+0.128s).

It was a messy open to the IMSA weekend as practice was halted just prior to the 40-minute mark when Visit Florida Racing's Renger van der Zande locked his brakes and spun into the wall in the Turn 1 runoff area. His No. 90 Riley/Multimatic Mk. 30 WEC LMP2 car connected most heavily with the right-front and left-rear corners, and the Dutchman climbed from the car uninjured and helped to clear debris from the circuit. Significant repairs will be required before the car is ready to take part in qualifying late this afternoon.