Bamber Fastest Again in Second Detroit Practice

Photo: Geoff Miller/IMSA

Earl Bamber topped the time charts for a second consecutive practice session ahead of qualifying for Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic.

The Action Express Racing driver improved on his benchmark 1:07.182 by going some seven-tenths quicker in Practice 2 on Friday afternoon on the streets of downtown Detroit.

The Kiwi’s 1:06.412 lap time in the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R was 0.031 seconds quicker than the No. 24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Sheldon van der Linde, who made a late-session improvement.

Teammate Marco Wittmann was third quickest in the No. 24 BMW, while Louis Deletraz and Tom Blomqvist completed the top-five for Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing and Acura Meyer Shank Racing, respectively.

Alexander Sims led a Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports 1-2 in GTD Pro, with the defending class champion reeling off a 1:10.109 lap in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

The No. 59 Team RLL McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Max Esterson was third quickest in class.

The two-hour session was halted with 40 minutes to go when Neil Verhagen made contact with the Turn 9 wall in his No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

While uninjured in the shunt, the car is understood to have sustained damage, although a team representative told Sportscar365 that they are optimistic of making qualifying.

Should it make the session, the BMW will lose its quickest time in the session due to bringing out a red, joining the No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 and No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3, which were both deemed to have caused reds in opening practice.

Qualifying is scheduled for 4:50 p.m. EST with live coverage on Peacock and IMSA’s YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Practice 2

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