Cooper Paces Friday Practice at The Brickyard

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Michael Cooper put Ibiza Farm Motorsports atop the timesheets in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge competition following a pair of practice sessions on Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Cooper, driving the No. 44 McLaren Artura GT4, reeled off a chart-topping 1:29.552 lap time in the first session of the day to edge out the No. 21 Motorsports In Action McLaren of Jesse Lazare by 0.154 seconds.

The No. 67 CSM Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Morgan Burkhard registered the third quickest time overall on the day, which also came in the morning session, followed by GS points leader Jan Heylen in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche, which was fourth.

Jake Walker in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO topped the second session of the day, which featured the day’s only red flag when the TCR class No. 56 Baker Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR of Dean Baker stopped in Turn 11.

Victor Gonzalez Racing’s Tyler Gonzalez, meanwhile, was quickest in both sessions in TCR.

Gonzalez laid down a 1:31.4761 benchmark lap time in the opening session in the No. 99 CUPRA Leon VZ TCR he shares with Eric Powell.

Qualifying for Pilot Challenge is on tap for Saturday at 8 a.m. EST followed by the two-hour race at 12:40 p.m., which will be streamed live on Peacock as well as IMSA’s YouTube channel commercial-free, courtesy of Michelin.

RESULTS: Practice (Combined)

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