Murillo Mercedes Tops Friday Practice at Laguna

Photo: Peter Burke/IMSA

Eric Foss ended up quickest in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge practice at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca following a pair of sessions on Friday.

The driver of the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 reeled off a 1:31.438 lap time in opening practice to go quickest of the day, 0.023 seconds quicker than the GS points-leading No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 of Bill Auberlen.

Auberlen topped Friday’s second session, ending nearly two-tenths quicker than title rival Jan Heylen in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.

Trent Hindman ended up third quickest on the day in the No. 7 VOLT Racing with Archangel Aston Martin Vantage GT4 followed by the No. 96 Turner BMW of Robby Foley in fourth.

The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes of Alec Udell completed the top-five, which saw all but Auberlen’s time set in the morning session.

Heylen’s time from the afternoon was good enough for sixth quickest overall.

TCR was led by the No. 84 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type-R TCR of Robert Noaker, thanks to a 1:33.111 lap time set in the second session.

The No. 17 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS 3 LMS TCR of Mikey Taylor and Tim Lewis’ KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR completed the top-three in class.

Both sessions featured red flags, the first for the No. 96 Turner BMW of Vinny Barletta, who stopped on track after a suspected puncture in the opening session.

The second session came to a halt when Anderson Tanoto stopped on track in his No. 99 Automatic Racing Aston Martin.

Qualifying for Pilot Challenge competitors is set to get underway Saturday at 11:10 a.m. PT ahead of the 4:40 p.m. local time race start.

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