Aschenbach Fastest in CTSC Daytona Wednesday Practice

New Stevenson Motorsports driver Lawson Aschenbach topped the timesheets in Wednesday’s opening day of practice for the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge BMW Performance 200 at Daytona International Speedway.

Aschenbach’s second session time of 1:56.943 was best on the afternoon in the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R, just ahead of the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302R driven by Billy Johnson and Scott Maxwell (1:56.983).

Johnson led the early afternoon session at 1:57.559, so times came down in the second one-hour session of the afternoon.

Rebel Rock Racing’s new pairing of Andy Lally and Cameron Lawrence clocked in third in the No. 08 Porsche 911, with the No. 14 Doran Racing Nissan 370Z and the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 911 completing the top five on the day in GS.

In ST, the debuting No. 18 Rennsport One Porsche Cayman led both sessions. Jon Miller led the opening session at 2:05.909, with co-driver Adam Isman lowering the mark to 2:05.460 in the afternoon session for the day’s best time.

Defending class champion Eric Foss, in the No. 56 Murillo Racing Porsche Cayman he’ll share with Justin Piscitell and Jeff Mosing (Mosing’s availability for the weekend is TBD), was second.

Burton Racing led a pair of BMWs next, with its No. 23 128i just ahead of Bimmerworld’s No. 84 BMW 328i. The No. 95 Irish Mike’s Racing Hyundai Genesis, a late add to the entry list, was fifth.

It was a chaotic day for several CTSC teams with at least 10 cars having unplanned trips to the garage during either session.

No team incurred worse luck than Tim Bell Racing, with team principal and co-driver Tim Bell OK after a fire in the pit lane of his No. 28 Nissan 370Z in the second session.

The car is being examined and the cause of fire is undetermined; it remains to be seen whether the car that Bell and new co-driver Charles Espenlaub are scheduled to drive will make Friday’s race.

Third practice for CTSC runs from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Thursday.

RESULTS: Practice 1
RESULTS: Practice 2