Renger van der Zande set the quickest time (1:48.279s) within the No. 01 Cadillac V-Collection.R. Trailing the Dutchman by virtually half a second at 1:48.758s was Jack Aitken within the No. 31 Motion Categorical Cadillac. Nick Tandy was third general within the No. 6 Porsche 963 with a finest lap of 1:48.941s.
Main the LMP2 class was Mikkel Jensen within the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, lapping the circuit in 1:51.342s. He was simply forward of ex-F1 driver Paul di Resta within the No. 2 United Autosports entry.
As anticipated, the GTD subject was very aggressive. Reigning champion Jack Hawksworth and the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 led each each the Professional and GT drivers at 2:00.202s. He was solely 0.094s away from his competitors although, which was Daniel Serra within the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) workforce.
#14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, Kyle Kirkwood, Mike Conway, #12 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Frankie Montecalvo, Parker Thompson, Aaron Telitz, Ritomo Miyata
Photograph by: Artwork Fleischmann
The third quickest driver and the primary among the many non-Professional entries was Parker Thompson within the sister Vasser Sullivan Lexus.
It was a difficult session from the get-go for the Proton Porsche workforce, as its No. 5 automotive got here to a cease on its outlap and forcing a purple flag. The sister No. 55 managed to get out on observe, but in addition spent a considerable amount of time within the storage with mechanical gremlins.
A handful of automobiles didn’t set a lap in any respect in the course of the Thursday’s first of three practices. They had been the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 (GTD-Professional), the No. 18 Period Motorsport ORECA (LMP2), the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 (GTD), and as beforehand talked about, the No. 5 Proton Porsche (GTP).
There have been different groups that encountered issues, however they had been nonetheless in a position to at the least set a time. Within the closing moments of the session, the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo stopped on observe with a difficulty.
