BMW Team RLL, Snow/Dempsey Tops Friday Practice

Photo: John Dagys

BMW Team RLL (GTLM) and Snow/Dempsey Racing (GTD) led the way in Friday’s GT practice sessions at Virginia International Raceway in preparation for Sunday’s Oak Tree Grand Prix.

John Edwards took the No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE to the top of the time sheets in the second and final practice session of the day, reeling off a best lap of 1:44.282.

The BMW factory driver was 0.361 seconds quicker than the Road America class-winning No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia of Pierre Kaffer, who wound up second quickest of the 60-minute session.

Porsches ended the day third, fourth and fifth quickest, led by the No. 912 Porsche North America entry of Michael Christensen with a 1:44.755.

The top-five was completed by Richard Lietz (Porsche North America) and Bryan Sellers (Team Falken Tire).

Corvettes and Vipers ended the day at the bottom of the time sheets after showing early pace in the opening 30-minute session.

All ten of the GTLM cars went quicker than Antonio Garcia’s pace-setting time from the first practice of the day.

Jan Heylen, meanwhile, topped GTD, taking his No. 58 Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT America to a 1:48.791 lap time.

It was just 0.002 seconds quicker than the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 of Dane Cameron, while the championship-leading No. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 was third.

The No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 turned its first laps after a massive rebuild and set the fifth quickest time in class with James Davison at the wheel.

A final 1.5-hour practice is on tap for GT cars Saturday at 8:15 a.m. ET, followed by qualifying in the early afternoon.

RESULTS: Practice 2 (GTLM/GTD)

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