Westphal Paces Opening Daytona Practice in BMW Top-Five Sweep

Jeff Westphal led the way in a BMW-dominated opening practice for the BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona, with the German manufacturer locking out the overall top five.

Westphal steered the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 to a best lap of 1:53.401 in the first session ahead of Friday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

In the process, he outpaced the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing entry of Kenton Koch by 0.209 seconds, with Robert Megennis third for Turner Motorsport.

The top five was rounded out by two more BMW runners in Stephen Cameron Racing’s Greg Liefooghe and the second Turner entry in the hands of Robby Foley.

Valentin Hasse-Clot was the fastest non-BMW runner aboard the No. 19 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in sixth position, ahead of the No. 59 KohR Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 driven by Luca Mars.

Michael de Quesada slotted into eighth in the No. 69 Motorsports in Action McLaren Artura GT4, with John Geesbrecht and Daniel Morad completing the top ten for Smooge Racing and Winward Racing, respectively.

Tim Lewis put Alfa Romeo on top of the timesheets in the TCR category, reeling off a 1:57.521 at the wheel of the No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Giulietta Veloce TCR.

The No. 55 Gou Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR took second in the hands of Eddie Gou, with Karl Wittmer third for Montreal Motorsports Group in the No. 93 Honda Civic FL5 TCR.

Second practice for Pilot Challenge is scheduled for Thursday at 8:45 a.m. ET.

RESULTS: Practice 1