Albuquerque Quickest at IMSA-Sanctioned Sebring Test

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport led the way in the IMSA-sanctioned test at Sebring International Speedway, with its Acura ARX-06 edging out Porsche’s 963 and the Cadillac V-LMDh over the two-day official test.

Filipe Albuquerque reeled off a best lap of 1:46.450 in the fifth and final session to go nearly a half-second quicker than the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet, who was second.

The No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande ended up third quickest overall of the test, in a time that was set midday on Wednesday.

Jack Aitken put the other Cadillac fourth on the combined time sheets, ahead of the No. 7 Porsche of Matt Campbell and the Rolex 24 at Daytona-winning No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura, which suffered an accident in the opening moments of the first session.

Trackside reports indicated that Tom Blomqvist lost control of the MSR Acura on his out lap, with the car sustaining significant front-end damage, although it was repaired in time for the second session of the day.

The sole BMW M Hybrid V8 taking part brought up the rear of the time charts, nearly two seconds slower than the GTP pace-setters.

Scott Huffaker edged out Paul Loup-Chatin to go quickest in LMP2, with the Silver-rated American in the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson just 0.012 seconds ahead of the experienced Frenchman, driving for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports.

Ave Motorsports, which has registered an entry for next month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, was the only LMP3 entrant at the test, which saw Tony Ave, Seth Lucas and Tonis Kasemets turn laps.

Mikael Grenier was quickest of the production-based entries, while along with Team Korthoff Motorsports co-driver Mike Skeen, turned the two fastest laps in the GTD class in their No. 32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Ben Barnicoat paced GTD Pro, which saw only two entries, the other being the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, which featured Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat completing his first laps with the team.

The Lamborghini, in the hands of Roman Grosjean, came within three-tenths of Barnicoat’s time in class, while Andrea Bertolini, in the No. 023 Triasi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3, was one second off the pace of Grenier.

The new Type-992 Porsche, despite also receiving a pre-event Balance of Performance adjustment, continued to struggle, with Kay van Berlo’s 2:02.847 nearly 1.3 seconds adrift from the pace-setting Mercedes.

A total of 26 entries participated in the optional test, which also saw a handful of Michelin Pilot Challenge entries also take to the 3.7-mile airfield circuit in separate sessions.

RESULTS: Sebring Test (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