Skeen Quickest in Opening Road Atlanta Practice

Photo: Phil Abbott/IMSA

Mike Skeen led the way in the opening practice session for Michelin Pilot Challenge competitors at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta ahead of Friday’s season-ending Fox Factory 120.

Skeen, in the No. 55 FCP Euro Mercedes-AMG GT4, laid down a 1:26.194 lap time to edge out the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R of Robin Liddell by 0.013 seconds.

The No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 of Bill Auberlen was third quickest overall and in the GS class, followed by the No. 66 Kelly-Moss Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Alec Udell in fourth.

Robby Foley completed the top-five in the No. 96 Turner BMW.

TCR was led by the No. 15 Belgard & Techniseal Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR of Denis Dupont, who outpaced Mason Filippi’s No. 77 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR by 0.108 seconds.

Ryan Norman was third in class in the No. 2 BHA Hyundai, meanwhile.

A red flag for a two-car incident involving the No. 84 Belgard Audi of Alex Rockwell and the Bronze Cup-elect No. 11 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes of Kris Wilson resulted in a brief stoppage with eight minutes to go.

The session restarted with just a few minutes left on the clock, with no significant improvements on the time charts.

Practice 2 gets underway Thursday at 12:15 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Practice 1

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