Garcia Tops Opening Practice at Lime Rock

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Antonio Garcia led the way in opening practice for Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, in a 1-2 run for Corvette Racing.

The Spaniard reeled off a 50.456-second lap time in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R he shares with Jordan Taylor.

It was 0.037 seconds faster than Nicky Tandy’s No. 4 Corvette in second.

The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Mathieu Jaminet was three-tenths slower in third.

The GT Le Mans class entries are running with revised minimum weights this weekend, with the Porsche getting a 20 kg weight break and Corvettes 10 kg heavier than they were last time out at Watkins Glen International.

GT Daytona was led by the No. 19 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Franck Perera, who ran a 52.499-second lap time to top the time charts in the 13-car class.

The Lamborghini factory driver edged out the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Patrick Long by 0.028 seconds.

Ross Gunn was third in the No. 23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, with the WeatherTech 240 class-winning No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 fourth on the time charts.

The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche, which won here in 2019, completed the top-five in class.

Trouble hit the GTD championship-leading No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 of Bill Auberlen, which slowed on track and was taken behind the wall.

It was the only notable incident in the 60-minute session, which ran caution-free.

Practice 2 is set for 2:45 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