JMF’s Ortmann Tops Practice 1 in Indianapolis

Photo: Fred Hardy/SRO

Mike David Ortmann led the way in the first Pirelli GT4 America practice session of the weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 4 JMF Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo recorded a best lap of 1:30.147 in the 45-minute session to edge out the Pro-Am class pace-setting No. 47 Nolasport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Matheus Leist by 0.041 seconds.

Leist is joined by two-time Pro-Am class champion Matt Travis this weekend.

Michael Cooper put his No. 33 Blackdog Racing McLaren Artura GT4 third on the overall time sheets, with the No. 3 JMF Aston leading a 1-2 run for the Canadian squad in the Silver class.

The No. 39 Van der Steur Racing Aston completed the top-five ahead of Loek Hartog in the No. 9 ACI Motorsports Porsche and the debuting Riley Technologies Porsche that’s competing in the Silver class this weekend.

BimmerWorld’s James Clay posted the quickest time in the Am class, meanwhile, in his No. 36 BMW M4 GT4 EVO.

The session was halted halfway through for an incident involving the No. 07 Skip Barber Racing BMW of Michael Garcia and the No. 53 AutoTechnic Racing BMW of Tyler Stone, who made side-to-side contact on the entry into Turn 1.

Track action restarted with 19 minutes to go.

Practice 2 is on tap for Friday at 11:35 a.m. EST.

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