Yahoo Autos Eng leads second Laguna Seca IMSA practice for BMW
Philip Eng put the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 on top of the time charts in the second free practice for tomorrow’s 2h40m Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N. Eng’s 1m13.349s (109.84mph) lap around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was well below last year’s pole time and below the DPi track record of 1m13.924s set by Ricky Taylor in 2022.
Sebastien Bourdais prevented it from being a BMW one-two in the session by posting a 1m13.573s time in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R late in the 90-minutes. It had been both BMWs at the top until that point, with Connor De Phillippi 0.373s off Eng in the No. 25 M Hybrid V8. The two Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s completed the top five in GTP, Dane Cameron in the No. 7 besting Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6. Pipo Derani posted the sixth-best time in the repaired No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R that Jack Aitken crashed in yesterday’s first practice.
Jack Hawksworth led GTD PRO with a 1m20.376s (100.24mph) lap in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3, taking advantage of the fresh asphalt to post a time nearly three seconds better than the existing track record. Nicky Catsburg was 0.088s off Hawksworth’s best in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R. Marvin Kirchhöfer showed well for Pfaff Motorsports, turning a 1m20.614s lap in the No. 9 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO for the third-best time in GTD PRO.
Laurin Heinrich (No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R), Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R) and Madison Snow (No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3) were the next three cars in GTD PRO, but all were behind GTD leader Kyle Marcelli in the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo22. Marcelli was nearly three seconds better than the GTD track record at 1m20.637s.
Anders Fjordbach was second in GTD, 0.380s off Marcelli, in the No. 86 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, with Loris Spinelli third at 1m21.049s in the No. 78 Forte Racing Powered by USRT Lamborghini. Albert Costa Balboa was fourth in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, turning his best lap before the car suffered a right-rear suspension failure in the Corkscrew. The Conquest crew found a couple of sheared bolts on the car and repaired it without leaving pit lane. Manny Franco returned the car to the track to finish the session. Frederik Schandorff completed the top five in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren.
The session was interrupted by a single brief red flag for the No. 43 Andretti Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R stopped on track.
Qualifying takes place at 4:35 p.m. local time, 7:35 ET and will be streamed on IMSA.tv and on Peacock.
