Nasr Tops Opening Practice at Long Beach

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Felipe Nasr led the way in opening IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice on the streets of Long Beach ahead of tomorrow’s Bubba Burger Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The Brazilian reeled off a 1:13.582 late in the two-hour session to put his No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R atop the time sheets, bumping countryman Helio Castroneves.

Nasr’s teammate, Filipe Albuquerque also made a late session improvement to second in the No. 5 Action Express Cadillac DPi, followed by Castroneves’ No. 7 Team Penske Acura ARX-05, which was relegated to third.

Oliver Jarvis made it three different DPi manufacturers in the top-four, slotting the No. 77 Team Joest Mazda RT24-P in fourth, thanks to a 1:13.743 lap time.

Three-time and defending race winner Jordan Taylor, meanwhile, completed the top-five overall and in the Prototype class in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi.

DPis swept the top nine positions, with the quickest LMP2 car being the No. 99 JDC-Miller Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson of Stephen Simpson, who was nearly 1.2 seconds slower than Nasr’s pace-setting time.

Ford Quickest in GT Le Mans

GT Le Mans saw a 1-2 sweep from Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, led by the No. 67 Ford GT of Ryan Briscoe.

Briscoe’s 1:17.898 edged out teammate Dirk Mueller by 0.095 seconds, with the pair of Porsche 911 RSRs ending up third and fourth.

It came despite a spin by Nick Tandy in the No. 911 Porsche just prior to the halfway point, which resulted in the session’s only red flag period.

There were no major incidents or contact with the walls during the session, which marked the first running of the weekend for any series at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

A 45-minute final practice session is set for 4:45 p.m. PT, immediately followed by qualifying.

RESULTS: Practice 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John