MiA McLaren Quickest on Friday; No. 65 Mercedes Withdrawn

The Motorsports in Action McLaren 570S GT4 led the way over Friday’s pair of practice sessions for this weekend’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge round at Road America.

Jesse Lazare’s time of 2:17.304 set in the afternoon ended up being the best of the day, while Trent Hindman set the pace in the morning behind the wheel of the No. 7 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.

Hindman clocked in with a 2:17.569 that was subsequently bettered by three other drivers, including Lazare in the McLaren.

Also improving in Practice 2 was Jeff Westphal, who posted the second-best time of the day in the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4, and Robin Liddell in the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R.

Westphal’s ultimate best ended up being 0.173 seconds short of Lazare’s benchmark.

Fifth-fastest in the GS class field was the No. 09 Automatic Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with Akhil Rabindra at the helm, ahead of Jade Buford in PF Racing’s pink Ford Mustang GT4.

The top six cars all fell within four-tenths of the outright pace, while Owen Trinkler ran 0.608 seconds off in the No. 46 Team TGM Mercedes, which was the seventh and final car to complete a lap in under 2m 18s.

Murillo Car Withdrawn After Crash

The No. 65 Murillo Racing Mercedes has been withdrawn from the Road America 120 following a heavy accident for Justin Piscitell during Practice 1.

The car left the road at the Turn 7 right-hand kink which leads on to Hurry Downs, and ended up on its roof following contact with the barriers.

This resulted in a red flag period which brought Friday’s first practice session to a premature end.

Piscitell, who was due to share the drive with Tim Probert, was evaluated and released from the on-site medical center.

It leaves Murillo with one car for this weekend’s two-hour race. Eric Foss put the team’s No. 56 Mercedes eighth in the times across Friday’s pair of practice sessions.

RESULTS: Friday Practice (Combined)