Priaulx Quickest on Friday at Road Atlanta

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Seb Priaulx led the way in the opening day of practice for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge competitors at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

The Multimatic driver took his No. 22 Ford Mustang GT4 to a fast lap of 1:27.170 in Friday afternoon’s practice session to edge out Kyle Marcelli by 0.010 seconds.

Priaulx, who will share the car with Multimatic development driver Scott Maxwell, claimed his first career Pilot Challenge victory here last year alongside Austin Cindric.

Marcelli paced Friday morning’s opening session in the No. 60 KohR Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4, which saw the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R slot in second.

An accident for the No. 4 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Russell Ward resulted in a lengthy red flag in the second session.

Ward had set the day’s third quickest time overall prior to the accident in Turn 5 where his Mercedes was nosed into the barriers.

Teammate Philip Ellis ended up fourth quickest in the session and on the day, followed by Robin Liddell’s Rebel Rock Camaro GT4, which was fifth thanks to a time set in the morning.

The No. 3 Motorsport In Action McLaren 570S GT4 returned in the afternoon after a fuel bottle failure ignited a massive fire in pit lane.

Sheena Monk handled driving duties solo in the session and will be joined by Corey Lewis in Sunday’s four-hour race.

TCR was led by the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Veloster N TCR of Gabby Chaves, who set a 1:28.810 lap in the morning session.

Mat Pombo, who took his No. 73 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Type-R TCR to the the top of the time charts in Practice 2, wound up second in the combined time charts.

RESULTS: Practice (Combined)

News & Notes:

***Greg Liefooghe has joined BimmerWorld this weekend in the No. 82 BMW M4 GT4 alongside James Clay. The entry makes its return following Devin Jones’ massive accident at Virginia International Raceway that resulted in multiple fractures for Jones.

***Turner Motorsport has added Andrew Pinkerton to the No. 96 BMW alongside Robby Foley and Vincent Barletta.

***The No. 47 Forty7 Motorsports Hyundai sees former ST competitor Jason Rabe added as a third driver for this weekend with Alex Papadopulos and Ben Waddell.

***The VP Racing Stay Frosty 240 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta gets underway Sunday at 12:10 p.m. with live coverage on Trackpass on NBC Sports Gold and IMSA Radio.

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