Szymczak Leads Way on Friday at Laguna for Murillo

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Christian Szymczak posted the quickest time of the day in Michelin Pilot Challenge at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, topping the time charts for Murillo Racing.

Szymczak recorded a best time of 1:30.368 in Friday morning’s 60-minute practice session to end up best of the day among the GS class contenders.

While Murillo Mercedes-AMG GT4s were 1-2 in the afternoon session, a 1:30.518 lap time by Scott Andrews in the No. 21 Riley Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 from the morning was good enough as second quickest on the day.

The sister No. 56 Murllo Mercedes, featuring Kenton Koch this weekend, wound up fourth best behind the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Stevan McAleer in third and the No. 14 Riley Toyota, which completed the top-five.

TCR was led by the Sebring-winning No. 99 VGRT Honda Civic Type-R TCR of Karl Wittmer, who posted a 1:33.167 lap time in the afternoon session, which did not feature any red flags.

Robert Wickens ended the day second quickest in class in his No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR, thanks to a 1:34.220 lap time.

An incident for Guy Ferrera, who went off in Turn 5 in his No. 11 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes, brought out the day’s only red flag during Session 1.

Qualifying is next up for Pilot Challenge competitors on Saturday at 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET) followed by the two-hour WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 beginning at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET) which will be streamed live on Peacock.

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