American Le Mans Series

Utah ALMS Grand Prix - Second Practice report

© American Le Mans Series

A very close session in terms of timing with the Acuras dominating until a very late run from Timo Bernhard that left his Penske Porsche RS Spyder on top and the Audis a bit further behind than expected. GT2 was a 1-2 for Porsche even when Ferrari was also close, an exciting qualifying is ahead!

The number 16 Dyson Porsche RS Spyder set the early pace in 1.35.484, substantially slower than the morning top times around 1.32, in GT2 it was the farnbacher Loles Porsche again, Dirk Werner setting a 1.49.684 followed closely by the 45 Lizard Porsche (1.068 secs) and the 71 Tafel Ferrari (1.086 secs). A 1.48.509 of Bergmeister got the Lizards on top however after 10 minutes while the 71 Ferrari met the spinning number 4 Corvette almost at the same time and had to come in for repairs.

Dyson continued progressing in 1.34.164 while the top 9 got within 1 second of that time, Dumas on the #7 Porsche and Biela on the #1 Audi following very closely but after 15 minutes of practice it was the Audi to grab the first spot in 1.33.979 while Dyson was in the pits. De Ferran moved up to second in 1.34.117 right after showing once more the good form of the new Acura but by then it was Romain Dumas in 1.33.902 to get fastest time and move the Audi back to 2nd overall.

Subsequent fast laps from Brabham and Luhr got Patrón Highcroft and the #2 Audi the top two spots as the track got quicker and quicker, in GT2 it was the 45 Lizard in 1.48.509 folowed by the 62 Risi Ferrari (1.48.628) and the 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche (1.48.644). The first man to go under the 1.33 was Luis Díaz on the Fernández Acura (1.32.961) with Guy Smith and Butch Leitzinger 0.422 and 0.474 secs behind him to show the Dyson Porsches were starting to get serious after 23 minutes of track action.

After about half an hour and with quite some traffic the 45 Lizard had improved to 1.48.373 but it was only good for third, the 62 Risi Ferrari (1.48.145) and the 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche (1.48.211) having managed even quicker times. The Corsa Ferrari in fourth just behind the Lizard and the 46 Porsche completing a very dynamic top 5. After 37 minutes Marco Werner needed to come in for cleaning and minor repairs after he spun and had a dusty off-track excursion.

Times continued their progress as David Brabham went around the Miller Motorsport Park in 1.32.650 after 39 minutes, all Acuras on a very strong performance during the weekend, as Christian Fittipaldi on the Andretti Green car moved to third behind Highcroft and Fernández in 1.32.997 to complete a 1-2-3. A bit later Basseng (1.47.292) nd Henzler (1.47.448) were able to build a Porsche 1-2, farnbacher Loles ahead of the 45 Lizard leaving the 62 Risi Ferrari in third with 45 minutes gone.

De Ferran made it 1-2-3-4 for Acura as he lapped in 1.32.624, the quickest Porsche being the 20 Dyson in 1.33.098 in fifth, Audi at that point eighth and ninth overall in the 1.33.7 and 1.33.8 range. With 3 minutes to go Timo Bernhard on qualifying trim went quickest with 1.32.233 on the #7 Penske Porsche promising a good battle for the qualifying session and the race. Christian Fittipaldi and David Brabham also improved to 1.32.598 and 1.32.440 respectively in the dying minutes of the session, no changes on the GT2 top in the last minutes.

Pos Car Cls Driver Best Lap Car Make/Model
1 7 P2 Penske Racing 1:32.233 Porsche RS Spyder
2 9 P2 Patron Highcroft Racing 1:32.440 Acura ARX-01B
3 26 P2 Andretti Green Racing 1:32.598 Acura ARX-01B
4 66 P2 de Ferran Motorsports 1:32.624 Acura ARX-01B
5 15 P2 Lowe`s Fernandez Racing 1:32.961 Acura ARX-01B
6 20 P2 Dyson Racing Team 1:33.098 Porsche RS Spyder
7 1 P1 Audi Sport North America 1:33.104 Audi R10
8 16 P2 Dyson Racing Team 1:33.198 Porsche RS Spyder
9 2 P1 Audi Sport North America 1:33.232 Audi R10
10 6 P2 Penske Racing 1:33.488 Porsche RS Spyder
11 37 P1 Intersport Racing 1:35.347 Lola B06/10 AER
12 8 P2 B-K Motorsports 1:36.708 Lola B07/46 Mazda
13 3 GT1 Corvette Racing 1:43.957 Chevrolet Corvette LS7
14 4 GT1 Corvette Racing 1:44.494 Chevrolet Corvette LS7
15 87 GT2 Farnbacher Loles 1:47.292 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
16 45 GT2 Flying Lizard Motorsports 1:47.448 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
17 62 GT2 Risi Competizione 1:47.954 Ferrari F430 GT
18 46 GT2 Flying Lizard Motorsports 1:48.556 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
19 48 GT2 Corsa Motorsports 1:48.946 Ferrari F430 GT
20 61 GT2 Risi Competizione 1:49.133 Ferrari F430 GT
21 21 GT2 Panoz Team PTG 1:49.151 Panoz Esperante GTLM
22 28 GT2 LG Motorsports 1:49.260 Chevrolet Corvette C6
23 71 GT2 Tafel Racing 1:49.730 Ferrari F430 GT
24 73 GT2 Tafel Racing 1:50.108 Ferrari F430 GT
25 18 GT2 VICI Racing 1:51.473 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
26 40 GT2 Robertson Racing 1:51.663 Doran Ford GT-R
27 44 GT2 Flying Lizard Motorsports 44 1:52.746 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
28 007 GT2 Drayson-Barwell 1:54.256 Aston Martin Vantage GT2
29 11 GT2 Primetime Race Group no time Dodge Viper Competition Co
30 5 GT2 VICI Racing no time Porsche 911 GT3 RSR