Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia have won the IMSA GT Challenge at Virginia International Challenge, to further extend their championship lead in the #3 Corvette.

Despite leading the championship, this was their first win all year in the IMSA SportscCar Championship series.

Garcia started the car fourth and remained there until he stopped. Giacomo Altoe, on pole in the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3, lost the lead on the opening lap to #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3’s Neil Verhagen, with his BMW teammate Dan Harper following him through.

This gave the German manufacturer a 1-2 at the front of the field. However, the race was soon neutralised as a sponsorship hoarding had been knocked over by a car going off track.

At the restart, Verhagen kept the lead over Harper, in the #1 Paul Miller BMW. They tried to stretch their lead, but Altoe in third kept them in check.

Garcia was the first to stop, from fourth. The two BMWs also soon stopped from the lead, as did Altoe. This gave Marco Mapelli, in the #9 Pfaff Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, the lead until he too pitted.

Albert Costa, now in the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari, had pitted as well. The two BMWs, with slower stops, rejoined behind both Costa and Sims, who had replaced Garcia in the #3 Corvette.

Soon, Sims was in the lead of the race, from Mike Rockenfeller in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3 and Costa third.

Max Hesse, now at the wheel of the #48 BMW, was fourth. However, he soon was reporting a loss of power from his M4 GT3, dropping down the field as other cars passed him. 

Before he could pit, though, the car dramatically caught fire from the right front exhaust, with the safety crew needing to extinguish the fire. This caused the race’s third full course yellow, which saw the entire field pit under yellow.

At the restart, the order was Sims, Tommy Milner in the #4 Corvette, Costa, Seb Prialux in the #64 Ford having replaced Rockenfeller, and Laurin Heinrich in the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3R, ‘Rexy’ to his fans.

However, the race was not green for long, with another fire the cause of the race’s third FCY. This time, Danny Formal, in the #45 WTR Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, had his car catch fire on track. 

This caused the car to spin uncontrollably into the tyre barriers, with Formal escaping quickly with possible light burns to his hands, with the entirety of the rear of the car engulfed in flame.

The next restart saw Sims retain the lead from Milner once again. However, Costa soon got passed the American in the closing minutes of the race, with the Spaniard setting about catching Sims in the lead.

As it was, Costa caught Sims but could not find a way by, with the Briton in the yellow #3 Corvette winning by just over a second from the Ferrari. Third was Milner in the sister #4 Corvette, a further four seconds back.

Fourth and fifth were Priaulx and Heinrich, with Snow in the #1 Paul Miller BMW sixth.

​​”I was just doing my job,” said Sims after the race. 

“Antonio did a fantastic job in his first stint and the team called a great strategy. We went aggressive on the first stop to try and force a situation, and it seemed to work. We could just about hold the gap to the BMW who had a significant fuel advantage on us had it stayed green. 

“We were fortunate with that second yellow but I think we just about had the race anyway. A really great job by everyone. The Corvette was fast today. The Michelin tires held on nicely. In these temperatures they were working hard but held on well. It was a really enjoyable race and it’s great to get our first win of the year.”

In GTD, Philip Ellis and Russell Ward took victory in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG-GT3.

Ward started the car second behind polesitter Jack Hawksworth in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus. However, Hawksworth soon received a drive through penalty, promoting Manny Franco in the #34 Conquest Ferrari into the lead.

However, after a few laps in the lead Franco went off track, dropping down to fifth.

This promoted Formal to the lead in the #45 WTR Lambo, which later caught fire.

From then on, the race was between Philip Ellis and Mario Farnbacher in the #78 Forte Lamborghini. However, late on in the race, he received a 30s penalty for blocking, dropping him well down the field.

So, Ellis took the lead followed by Kenton Koch in the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari, with Tom Gamble third in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

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Giacomo Altoe set the pace in qualifying for the IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, putting the #81DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 on pole in the GTD Pro class.

The Italian capped a dominant weekend, with DragonSpeed topping both practice sessions and now claiming the top spot on the grid.

His co-driver, Albert Costa, set the benchmark in the opening 90-minute practice, guiding the #81 car to the top with a 1:45.032s to lead both GTD Pro and the overall order.

The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo followed closely, Russell Ward quickest of the GTD runners and second overall.

DragonSpeed maintained its grip in the second practice session, with Altoe lowering the pace to a 1:45.011s in the same Ferrari. That time was matched to the thousandth by Sebastian Priaulx in the Ford Multimatic Mustang, leaving the pair inseparable at the head of the timesheets.

In GTD, Onofrio Triarsi took the spotlight, putting the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari on top of the class with a 1:45.324s effort.

Hawksworth secures GTD pole for Lexus

Heading into qualifying, the action got underway in the GTD class with plenty of warm-up laps, the Mercedes of Ward quickly storming out of the pits at the beginning of the session before returning to the pits at the end of the lap.

Jack Hawskworth in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 set the early benchmark with a 1:45.833s before Patrick Gallagher in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO quickly dispatched him with a 1:45.757s.

The British driver immediately replied to take back the fastest lap with Gallagher slotting in behind. Ward finally joined the fight with just over five minutes to go, setting a fastest lap time of 1:44.998s before Hawksworth went even quicker with a 1:44.860s.

Triarsi placed third in his Ferrari as Hawksworth rolled the dice, pitting with a minute and a half remaining and trusting his time would hold firm.

It worked as the 34-year-old held onto pole position for Vasser Sullivan Racing ahead of Ward and Triarsi, completing the top three.

Altoe fends off Verhagen for GTD Pro pole

Nicky Catsburg in the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports headed out for the GTD Pro class with an engine change due to a suspected thermostat issue.

The #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo, with Dan Harper at the wheel, vaulted to the top of the times with a 1:45.090s. But his spell in front was short-lived as Altoe fired the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari to a 1:44.847s.

Even that effort didn’t last long, as Neil Verhagen in the #1 BMW quickly responded. The two exchanged blows at the head of the order, Altoe briefly regaining the advantage before Verhagen stamped authority with a 1:44.478s.

Yet the Italian hit back with a 1:44.433s in a tense qualifying affair at VIR, reclaiming the top spot by less than half a tenth as the battle for pole intensified.

The #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, driven by Antonio Garcia, occupied third as Altoe and Verhagen both pitted with just over two minutes left of the session.

However, the #48 BMBW of Harper snatched third at the death to make it a 2-3 finish for the German manufacturer. But it was DragonSpeed’s day as Altoe continued the dominance by taking pole position in qualifying.

READ MORE – Costa fastest for DragonSpeed at VIR in IMSA opening practice

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Alberto Costa set the pace in practice 1 for the IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway, in the #81 GTD Pro-entered DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3.

The Spaniard set a 1:45.032 on his fifth lap, with the car completing 34 laps in total.

Second fastest was Russell Ward in the GTD-entered #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, 0.439 off Costa.

Third fastest overall, and second in GTD Pro, was Andrea Caldarelli in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, a further 0.061 off Ward.

Third fastest in GTD Pro and fourth overall was Neil Verhagen in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 0.572 off Costa’s timesheet-topping lap.

Second fastest in GTD was Fred Schandorff in the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari 263 GT3, 0.608 off Costa and just under two tenths off Ward, who set the fastest GTD lap.

Third fastest in GTD was Daniel Serra, in the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, 0.635 off Costa and 0.015 off Schandorff.

There was just one stoppage, a brief red flag 15 minutes in, for debris at the turn 4-5 complex.

The post Costa fastest for DragonSpeed at VIR in IMSA opening practice appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Neil Verhagen and his team-mate Madison Snow took the GTD Pro class victory in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo at Road America.

The #1 BMW claimed the GTD Pro victory in the SportsCar Grand Prix, emerging ahead of a fight with the #64 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3 of Seb Priaulx (and Mike Rockenfeller), who finished in second position on the 62nd lap.

Albert Costa claimed third place in the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 after starting on pole, owing to his team-mate Giacomo Altoe’s efforts in qualifying.

Antonio Garcia and his #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of team-mate Alexander Sims finished in fourth despite being involved in an incident with #48 Paul Miller BMW driver Dan Harper in their fight for the lead, which resulted in the #3 Corvette being off course at Turn 1.

Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies, meanwhile, rounded out the top five in the GTD Pro category for the #65 Ford team.

Meanwhile, the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari won GTD from second on the grid with drivers Onofrio Triarsi and Kenton Koch tasting victory in a thrilling final chase to the end with the #36 DXDT Racing Corvette of Alex Udell (and Robert Wickens), who were not able to make it to the end without another pit stop.

Mario Farnbacher and his #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 co-driver Misha Goikhberg claimed second place, whilst Daniel Serra (and Manny Franco) secured third in the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari.

Turner Motorsport’s #96 BMW pairing of Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher came in fourth ahead of Trend Hindman’s (and Danny Formal’s) #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini.

See here for the full results. READ MORE IN THE GTP/LMP2 REPORT – Philipp Eng fronts BMW 1-2 after hectic Road America sprint

The post Neil Verhagen takes GTD Pro victory for BMW at Road America appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Philipp Eng headed a BMW RLL 1-2 finish at the checkered flag following a hectic 180-minute IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix sprint at Road America.

The #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 duo of Eng and Dries Vanthoor secured victory after 66 laps of hectic, action-packed racing at America’s National Park of Speed.

It was Eng’s second time leading a 1-2 race finish for the Bavarian manufacturer in the GTP category, since doing so in last year’s six-hour Indianapolis enduro.

BMW RLL executed masterful timing in pitting both cars as the race headed into the final hour, soon before the fifth full-course-yellow caution period went out.

From then on, they turned a flawless performance into triumph with the pole-sitting #93 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06 of Renger van der Zande chasing down the #24 and #25 BMWs towards the end.

The #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R duo of Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken secured fourth place, followed by the highest-placed Porsche Penske 963, the #6, of Mathieu Jaminet and his team-mate Matt Campbell.

Heart of Racing claimed a worthy sixth position, their best race finish, in the #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie, driven by Ross Gunn and Romain De Angelis.

Tom Blomqvist took seventh for the #60 Meyer Shank Acura team with his co-driver, Colin Braun, after a drive-through penalty for running over equipment during the first pit stop phase halted their chances of a strong result, despite evidently being one of the fastest cars in the field.

Ricky Taylor and his #10 Wayne Taylor Cadillac team-mate Filipe Albuquerque claimed eighth after an incident with another GTP car sent them off-course but not out, followed by the other #40 Wayne Taylor Cadillac of Louis Deletraz and his team-mate Jordan Taylor rounding out the top 10 GTP finishers.

Yelloly heads the field at the start

At the race start, Nick Yelloly asserted strong form in the #93 Acura — as he did numerous times during his time behind the wheel — to retain the lead ahead of both BMWs behind him.

After only two minutes of green flag racing, race control brought out the first caution.

Daniel Goldburg of the #22 United Autosports USA Oreca 07 LMP2 made contact with George Kurtz’s #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca before spinning around as the rear-left corner hit the tyre barrier. Remarkably, they did return to the race much later on after a lengthy recovery and repair job, with 45 minutes left of the race.

With the racing incident cleared, the race resumed with 2 hours and 26 minutes left on the clock.

Yelloly continued his run with a strong restart and consistently established a subtle lead gap, only for two minutes to pass before the second caution; Brendon Iribe of the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 (GTD class) went off at Turn 7 on his own after taking slightly too much curb.

As the race resumed, Yelloly repeated his effort to keep the lead, although it was #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac driver Albuquerque who got himself fighting for the podium places.

Naveen Rao of the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca triggered the third caution just before the end of the opening hour after a heavy impact after going wide at Turn 10.

After all GTPs pitted, the #93 Acura fell back in the busy pit stop cycle as the #6 of Matt Campbell led the pack of GTPs with Bamber behind him, as well as the #10 driven by Ricky Taylor.

BMW RLL make their race-winning call

The Road America sprint headed into the final hour, and BMW made their strategic call to bring both cars in for their final stops with 59 minutes remaining, clearly anticipating the race’s fifth caution period.

Back to the track action, #7 Porsche driver Nick Tandy passed R. Taylor’s #10 Wayne Taylor Cadillac at Turn 3 for fourth place. Furthermore, their battle continued when Tandy defended across at the Turn 5 corner exit, but made contact, which spun the #10 up the hill.

Fifty-three minutes remained for this caution drew all GTPs into the pits, apart from the BMWs, who pitted earlier, therefore inheriting the lead at the restart.

Unexpectedly, Tandy jumped the #6 Porsche of Campbell after their respective pit stops, although Tandy was awarded a stop-and-60-second penalty for earlier incident responsibility with the #10 Cadillac.

As Eng and Wittmann headed the BMW 1-2 formation on the restart, the attention sprang on van der Zande’s #93 Meyer Shank Acura, which dodged and weaved passed the two Porsche Penskes before reeling in Wittmann’s #25 BMW.

AO Racing wins from pole in LMP2

In the LMP2 category, AO Racing’s #99 ‘Spike the Dragon’ Oreca 07 pairing of PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron secured victory from pole position.

Inter Europol Competition, starting 10th on the grid, claimed second place in the hands of Connor de Phillippi and Jeremy Clarke ahead of the #11 TDS Racing Oreca of Steven Thomas and Mikkel Jensen.

Ben Hanley finished in fourth position in the #2 United Autosports USA Oreca with his co-driver Phil Fayer, as Era Motorsport finished their #18 Oreca in fifth.

Kaku Ohta, teamed with Tobias Lutke, fought within the top three and four positions until he went wide into Turn 5 towards the end.

Malthe Jakobsen brought the #04 Crowdstrike Oreca in sixth with his team-mate George Kurtz, followed by Sebastien Bourdais’/John Farano’s #8 Tower Motorsport Oreca and the #73 Pratt Miller Motorsport Oreca duo of Pietro Fittipaldi and Chris Cumming.

Scott Andrews and Gerry Kraut finished ninth in the #79 JDC Miller MotorSports Oreca ahead of the 10th-placed pairing of Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson, and their #74 Riley Oreca.

See here for the full results – Stay tuned for the in-depth GTD Pro / GTD race report

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Nick Yelloly grasped pole position for Meyer Shank Racing’s #93 Acura ARX-06 for the IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix sprint race at Road America.

Meyer Shank Racing Acura fought with RLL BMW for the GTP class pole position in a close battle for the fastest times, thus knocking out the front two rows.

The result was an incredibly close margin between the top four, with Yelloly having set his 1:48.628 lap time just 0.053 seconds ahead of Sheldon van der Linde’s #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 (1:48.681).

Just two thousandths behind van der Linde was his #24 BMW team-mate, Dries Vanthoor, who was unable to take a fifth pole position of 2025 but took third with a 1:48.683 time.

Colin Braun claimed fourth in the #60 Meyer Shank Acura (1:48.708), followed by Matt Campbell’s #6 Porsche Penske 963 (1:48.960) and the highest-placed Cadillac V-Series.R, the #31 Whelen machine of Jack Aitken (1:49.118).

Three-thousandths behind him was the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac of Filipe Albuquerque (1:49.121).

Felipe Nasr put the #7 Porsche Penske in eighth place (1:49.171) in front of Jordan Taylor’s #40 Wayne Taylor Cadillac (1:49.263).

Lastly, towards the back of the GTP class, Ross Gunn put the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie in 10th (1:49.309) and Gianmaria Bruni closed the field in the #85 JDC Miller MotorSports Porsche (1:50.367).

Hyett and ‘Spike’ command LMP2 with pole at Road America

Spike the Dragon, the #99 AO Racing Oreca 07, took the honours over 13 other Oreca 07 LMP2s with credit to PJ Hyett’s potent benchmark of 1:53.240.

Hyett therefore took a back-to-back Road America pole position, having claimed it last year, as George Kurtz’s #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca (1:53.906) took second position.

Daniel Goldburg qualified third in the #22 United Autosports USA Oreca (1:54.323), despite having his fastest lap time voided due to causing a red flag in FP1.

Tonis Kasemets, 2022 IMSA Prototype champion, put a strong first-ever qualifying for the debuting Team Tonis #61 Oreca team with a second-row start owed to a 1:54.377.

Steven Thomas took fifth position (1:54.685), also with his fastest time voided, ahead of Tobias Lutke’s #18 Era Motorsport Oreca (1:54.908).

Phil Fayer – the final of the free practice red flag-instigators – took seventh in the #2 United Autosports USA Oreca (1:55.108).

Luis Perez put the #88 AF Corse Oreca in eighth place (1:55.117) ahead of Naveen Rao’s #52 PR1 Mathiasen Oreca (1:55.410) and Jeremy Clarke’s #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca in 10th (1:55.459).

The 2-hour and 40-minute sprint race commences Sunday, 3 August at 13:10 local time / 19:10 BST.

READ MORE IN THE GTD PRO / GTD REPORT – DragonSpeed claims GTD Pro class pole position at Road America

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DragonSpeed driver Giacomo Altoe claimed the GTD Pro class pole position for the IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix sprint at Road America.

The GTD Pro winners from last time out at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park emerged on top of qualifying, as Russell Ward came out on top of the fight in the GTD category as a title protagonist chasing a back-to-back title this year.

The fight was gripping to follow, with two-hundredths of a second covering the top three GTD Pros during the session.

Altoe’s 2:03.904 lap time set him at the top of the GTD Pros, followed by Alexander Sims’ #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R (2:03.914) and Tommy Milner’s #4 Corvette (2:03.924).

Dan Harper puts the #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo in fourth with a lap time of 2:04.610 ahead of the team’s other #1 BMW of Madison Snow (2:04.644).

The first of the Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3s followed in sixth with Chris Mies’ #65 machine (2:05.089) and Klaus Bachler’s #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R in seventh (2:05.411).

Mike Rockenfeller set a 2:05.419 in the #64 Ford to go eighth, and Aaron Telitz rounded out the nine GTD Pros which participated, with a 2:05.590 lap time.

Pfaff Motorsport now utilised a spare Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 chassis by GTD team Forte Racing after their accident during FP2, but were unable to participate in qualifying while working on the gifted chassis.

They will start last in GTD Pro, but ahead of the GTD field.

Winward Racing takes GTD pole at Road America

Russell Ward took the GTD class pole position with his lap time of 2:03.745, with the top seven covered by a tight 1-second margin.

He set his sublime benchmark midway during the first session solely for GTDs, landing pole for the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 team.

Ward attempted to improve his time whilst his rivals bettered their earlier times in the pursuit of the top spot.

Casper Stevenson finished second for the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (2:03.908), followed in third by Onofrio Triarsi in his #021 Triarsi Ferrari 296 GT3 (2:04.160).

Robert Wickens qualified an impressive fourth position in the #36 DXDT Corvette (2:04.208), followed by Parker Thompson’s #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 in fifth (2:04.494), who set the best first sector time.

Manny Franco qualified sixth for the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari team (2:04.602) ahead of the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini driver Danny Formal (2:04.625) and Misha Goikhberg’s #78 Forte Lamborghini (2:05.107).

Brendon Iribe lined in ninth for the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 (2:05.231) as last year’s race-winning team, Turner Motorsport, rounded out the top 10 GTD qualifiers owing to Patrick Gallagher’s 2:05.936 in the #96 BMW.

The 2-hour and 40-minute sprint race commences Sunday, 3 August at 13:10 local time / 19:10 BST.

READ MORE IN THE GTP / LMP2 QUALIFYING REPORT – Nick Yelloly grasps IMSA pole for MSR Acura at Road America

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Dries Vanthoor was the quickest driver in an incident-ridden second IMSA SportsCar Championship free practice session at Road America.

The #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 driver topped the second of two 90-minute free practice sessions, which were interrupted by two red flags.

A collision on the front straight between Marco Mapelli’s #9 Pfaff Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Oreca 07 of Benjamin Pederson triggered the latter red flag instance.

George Kurtz likely took avoiding action during the incident in his #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca. He stopped at the pit exit before being taken behind the wall. Fortunately, they returned to the session having finished at the top of the LMP2 class.

The circuit officials estimated 20 minutes to repair the driver’s right-side wall on the front straight, though they did so in approximately 10.

Furthermore, Nick Yelloly was second-quickest in the #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 GTP with a 1:49.682 lap time, only six-thousandths behind D. Vanthoor’s 1:49.676 benchmark.

Sheldon van der Linde put the #25 RLL BMW in third thanks to a 1:49.843 lap time, followed by Felipe Nasr’s 1:50.699 in the championship-leading #7 Porsche Penske 963.

Jack Aitken’s 1:50.767 set him fifth in the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.

Crowdstrike tops LMP2, Corvette heads GTD Pro

In the LMP2 class, Malthe Jakobsen’s lap time of 1:52.823 put the #04 Oreca fastest ahead of the #11 TDS Racing Oreca, which topped yesterday’s FP1 session in LMP2, where Mikkel Jensen’s 1:52.852 took second position.

His team-mate Steven Thomas of the #11 TDS Racing Oreca, went off at Turn 6 before continuing again in the first of the two red flag disruptions.

Dane Cameron put a 1:52.924 lap time together for third in the #99 AO Racing ‘Spike the Dragon’ Oreca, followed by Connor de Phillippi’s 1:53.064 in the #43 Inter Eurpol Competition Oreca, as Scott Andrews rounded out the top five in the #79 JDC Miller MotorSports Oreca (1:53.220).

Chris Cumming’s #73 Pratt and Miller Motorsport Oreca made contact with Cameron’s team-mate PJ Hyett earlier in the session at T3, although stewards took no further action as the responsibility was inconclusive.

Whilst the second-red-flag incident remains under investigation, the #11 TDS Oreca joins the #2 and #22 United Autosports USA Oreca cars in all losing their fastest qualifying lap times later today, as they respectively triggered red flags during free practice.

Antonio Garcia went fastest in the GTD Pro-entered #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with a 2:04.247 lap time. Giacomo Altoe followed in second in the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 (2:04.354) ahead of Tommy Milner’s time of 2:04.440 in the #4 Corvette.

Onofrio Triarsi was the quickest GTD-class car with a 2:04.866 time in the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari.

See here for the full results from FP2 – Qualifying takes place at 16:40 local time / 22:40 BST

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Tom Blomqvist topped the opening free practice session for the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s eighth round of 2025 at Road America.

Action began as part of this weekend’s running of the SportsCar Grand Prix at America’s National Park of Speed before next year’s six-hour enduro.

The FP1 session ended six minutes prematurely after Phil Fayer suffered an impact into the barriers at Turn 12 with six minutes left of the 90-minute session.

Tom Blomqvist was quickest at Road America in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 GTP, which won at Watkins Glen, owing to his 1:51.255 lap time.

Heart of Racing’s #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie GTP finished in a close second in the overall classification after Ross Gunn’s 1:51.328 time, just 0.073 seconds behind.

Jack Aitken claimed third place in the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R and his 1:51.590 time, followed in fourth by Dries Vanthoor’s #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 (1:51.655)

Nick ‘Mr 24’ Tandy rounded out the top five in the #6 Porsche Penske 963 (1:51.835) — the whole GTP field covered by just over 1 second.

United Autosports, the only LMP2 team with two Oreca 07 entries, had a difficult session after their #2 IMSA debutant Fayer’s incident — despite finishing second and third in the end.

This, however, was the second of two red flag disruptions as Daniel Goldburg (#22 United Autosports) went off-course at Turn 8 earlier on, though they returned to the session.

As a result of causing the red flags, both the #2 and #22 Oreca machines will have their fastest qualifying lap times lost.

TDS Racing heads LMP2 at Road America, Winward leads GT field

Peugeot Hypercar driver Mikkel Jensen was the fastest in the LMP2 category for the #11 TDS Racing Oreca (1:52.781) by three-tenths on the #22 Oreca’s benchmark of 1:53.146 set by fellow Peugeot team-mate Paul Di Resta.

Ben Hanley’s 1:53.404 put the #2 Oreca in second position ahead of another Peugeot Hypercar driver, Malthe Jakobsen, at the wheel of the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca.

The young Dane’s 1:53.500 lap time preceded the #79 JDC Miller MotorSports Oreca and Scott Andrews’ 1:53.601 in fifth position.

Meanwhile, in the combined GTD Pro and GTD order, Winward Racing’s #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 (reigning GTD champions) went quickest with Russell Ward’s 2:04.991 lap time.

Vasser Sullivan’s #12 Lexus RC F GT3 took second with Parker Thompson’s 2:05.739 as Elliott Skeer rounded out the top-three (2:05.823) in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3.R.

Fourth in the combined order, fastest in the GTD Pro class, were the most recent race winners – DragonSpeed.

Giacomo Altoe drove a lap time of 2:05.844 in the #81 Ferrari 296 GT3, putting it ahead of the #34 GTD-entered Conquest Racing Ferrari of Daniel Serra and his 2:05.953.

Nicky Catsburg was second in GTD Pro for the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R (2:06.028) and Andrea Caldarelli was third in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 (2:06.056),

See here for the full classification of results from FP1 – FP2 takes place from 09:05 local time / 15:05 BST on Saturday 2 August.

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AO Racing’s renowned ‘Rexy’ #77 Porsche 911 GT3.R is making its debut GTD Pro appearance at this weekend’s IMSA sprint round at Road America.

The team‘s sibling Tyrannosaurus Rex characters differ in their green (Rexy) and pink (Roxy) liveries.

The former has made more race appearances with Roxy having filled in for selected races in 2024 and 2025, including last year’s race, as Rexy first entered in 2023 (GTD class).

AO Racing are reigning GTD Pro champions, running second in the standings after their third-place finish at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP).

“Road America is one of the best tracks in North America,” said Laurin Heinrich in a pre-event press conference.

“[It’s] super quick, long straights, interesting and challenging corners. The fan atmosphere is really amazing.

“Last year we raced Roxy in pink, and this year we’re bringing Rexy in GTD Pro for the first time.

“The fans love it, and it’s great to see so many line up early just to meet us and the car. That energy definitely amps us up.”

“It’s been huge,” he described his individual development with team-mate Klaus Bachler.

“Last year, everything was new — now I have stability. Klaus and I are close — we speak the same language, no secrets, and learn from each other.

“He’s one of the best teammates I’ve had.”

“With all four classes and long straights, the closing speeds are wild [at Road America].

“Especially on restarts, it gets chaotic.

“You need to know when to push and when to be smart. It’s high risk, high reward.”

After winning at the CTMP in the LMP2 class, they are targeting a third season victory with their #77 Porsche — excluding their GTD class win at Long Beach.

READ MORE – Dane Cameron on life at AO Racing and chasing LMP2 glory

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