Van der Zande Tops Practice 1 at Laguna

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Renger van der Zande started the weekend where he left off last year at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, on the top of the time charts.

The Dutchman paced Friday’s opening practice for the America’s Tire 250, pedaling his No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R to a quick lap of 1:16.882.

Van der Zande edged out the No. 6 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 of Dane Cameron by 0.651 seconds, with Pipo Derani third quickest in the No. 22 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Onroak DPi.

The sister ESM Nissan DPi of Ryan Dalziel posted the fourth quickest time, with Helio Castroneves completing the top-five overall and in Prototype.

Colin Braun was the quickest LMP2 car in seventh overall, more than 1.6 seconds adrift from van der Zande’s quick time.

It’s come after a 10 kg minimum weight increase and fuel capacity reduction to LMP2 cars this weekend.

Ford 1-2 in GT Le Mans

The pair of Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs led the way in GT Le Mans, with Richard Westbrook outpacing teammate Joey Hand.

Westbrook’s 1:23.644 lap time was 0.219 seconds clear of the Californian, with Earl Bamber third quickest in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR.

The GT Daytona championship-leading No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Bryan Sellers, meanwhile, was fastest in class.

There were no major incidents throughout the 60-minute session.

Practice 2 gets underway at 3:15 p.m. PDT.

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