MIA, Lazare Set Pace in CTMP Friday Practice

Motorsports In Action driver Jesse Lazare set the fastest time across Friday practice for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Lazare, who is racing on home soil aboard the No. 69 McLaren Artura GT4, posted a best time of 1:22.319 during the first of two 60-minute practice sessions on Friday to top the day’s leaderboards.

He went 0.146 seconds quicker than the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS of Trent Hindman, who also set his time during first practice.

Jack Hawksworth slotted into third place across the day, topping second practice in the No. 50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO by setting a 1:22.565.

The British driver was an outlier in the overall top ten with his pace in the second session, with only one other driver in the top ten setting his quickest time on Friday afternoon – Baby Bull Racing’s Michael Cooper in fifth place.

Hawksworth and Cooper were separated by the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Daniel Morad, with points leader Matt Plumb sixth in the No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Audi took a 1-2 in the TCR category, spearheaded by the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS 3 LMS TCR of Mikey Taylor.

The South African steered the car to a best lap of 1:23.181, beating the No. 52 Baker Racing Audi piloted by Dean Baker by 0.120 seconds.

Mason Filippi picked up third in the No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR, with the pair of Montreal Motorsport Group Honda Civic FL5 TCRs of Karl Wittmer and LP Montour rounding out the top five.

Qualifying for Pilot Challenge runners takes place Saturday at 8 a.m. EDT.

RESULTS: Practice 1/Practice 2