Yardley Tops Thursday Practice at The Brickyard

Ryan Yardley topped the opening day of Porsche Carrera Cup North America track action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after setting the overall fastest lap across a pair of Thursday practice sessions at The Brickyard.

The Topp Racing driver led a team 1-2 on the day, having laid down a 1:26.384 lap time aboard his Pro class No. 78 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in the morning’s half-hour practice session. Stablemate and series rookie Tyler Maxson finished the day just 0.247 seconds off of Yardley’s time in his No. 7 Topp machine.

JDX Racing’s Zachary Vanier proved third-best overall, with his best effort from Practice 1 placing him 0.258 seconds off of Yardley’s pace.

Dickinson led the way in second practice, though his time from the warmer, 40-minute afternoon session was bested by his own 1:26.713 lap from Practice 1, which placed him fourth fastest overall on the day for Kellymoss.

Jimmy Llibre was the fifth-fastest driver on Thursday and was the only driver in the top five overall to set their fastest lap of the day in the warmer, afternoon practice session.

The Pro-Am field was paced by Alan Metni, whose 1:27.792 lap in the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche was good enough for 12th on the overall time sheets. Metni’s class-leading time came amidst a late Practice 1 spin, which he recovered from and continued on without incident.

Chris Bellomo was fastest in the Masters class with his 1:28.172 lap in the No. 68 Kellymoss machine proving good enough for 18th-fastest overall among the 26 total who were present. He finished a mere 0.011 ahead of Scott Blind.

While first practice ran uninterrupted, Practice 2 saw a late red flag when GMG Racing’s Patrick Mulcahy found the Turn 4 gravel trap with less than five minutes to go.

Mulcahy will be stripped of his fastest qualifying time on Friday as a penalty for bringing out the red in practice. The session resumed with just minutes on the clock, allowing drivers a chance for one final flying lap.

The only incidents of note in Practice 1 were a spin at Turn 4 for Sabre Cook’s No. 37 JDX Racing Porsche and an off at Turn 1 for Kellymoss’ Metni. Both drivers were able to recover and continue the session.

Qualifying to set the grid for Race 1 will take place on Friday morning at 9:35 a.m. EST, ahead of racing action getting underway that afternoon at 3 p.m.

RESULTS: Practice (Combined)