Laguna Seca Friday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***Cadillac led a sweep of the top three positions in a rather uneventful opening practice session for Sunday’s StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, which saw the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Louis Deletraz lead the way in the 90-minute session.

***Deletraz said: “It was a great session and the car feels good and it was a great start and we are P1. Even though we are just starting the weekend, it’s very good. We are going to look at data and analyze and make sure we are even faster tomorrow. But we are very happy with the car, the Cadillac did a great job, and we are excited for the weekend.”

***The presence of Apple-liveried cars extends beyond the pair of Porsche Penske Motorsport GTP entries this weekend, with three additional Porsches sporting the rainbow livery that are either in action or in the paddock.

***A replica version of the 1980 Porsche 935 K3, a Porsche 912 with a 935 bodykit, owned by Julio Torres, is on display, alongside a modern generation Porsche 935 race car owned and raced by former longtime Apple executive and now ‘Apple Fellow’ Phil Schiller, and a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS, wearing the No. 50 for Apple’s 50th anniversary, which will serve as the safety car for Sunday’s race.

***The original Dick Barbour Racing-run 935 K3 is currently owned by Adam Carolla, who reportedly purchased it for more than $4 million in 2016 and restored it to the car’s 1979 livery, which claimed a second place overall finish and class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Barbour, Paul Newman and Rolf Stommelen.

***John Ternus, Apple’s Senior VP of Hardware Engineering, who will succeed Tim Cook in becoming Apple’s CEO beginning on Sept. 1, is also understood to own one of the GT2-spec 935s launched in 2018 that’s based on the Porsche 911 GT2 RS and limited to 77 units worldwide.

***GMG Racing, at its state-of-the-art base at The Thermal Club, services cars for five Apple executives, all of whom are also Thermal members according to James Sofronas.

***Sportscar365 understands that Ternus, who is also a regular at Laguna Seca in track day events, will be in attendance on Sunday, along with other Apple executives, although Cook is not expected to attend.

***Additionally, Porsche will have one of its 963 show cars in the retro Apple livery on display for several events at Apple Park in Cupertino, Calif. later this year, including Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC26) on June 8-12.

***Action Express Racing has rotated Cadillac chassis this weekend, with the team’s Detroit car now serving as an on-truck spare and will be put back into use for the next round on the streets of Detroit according to its director of team operations Chris Mitchum, who indicted they aim to keep one chassis for the largest risk events, such as street races.

***Mitchum said its chassis that most recently ran the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona has been put into use this weekend. He explained the full car was built up in the Long Beach paddock following the race two weeks ago, with the team then renting shop space in Corona, Calif. to put the final touches on the No. 31 entry for Laguna.

***Action Express has a total of three chassis in its possession, which Mitchum said has resulted in very little turnover or damage through the years, owing to the strength of the Dallara-built LMDh cars.

***Laguna Seca is one of the most successful tracks for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. In addition to its three wins and poles in IndyCar competition, the BMW Team RLL has claimed three class wins (2015, 2017, 2018) and four poles (2015, 2017, 2018, 2025) and a total of 12 podium finishes. The team makes its third start with the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo this weekend.

***Seventeen-year-old Nikita Johnson, who currently leads the INDY NXT standings following wins at St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park, is making his race debut at Laguna Seca but told Sportscar365 that a test at the 2.238-mile circuit last month helped both him and McLaren Team RLL co-driver Max Esterson get up to speed.

***Porsche Penske Motorsport driver Laurens Vanthoor said he’s indifferent to the suggestion that GTP teams could benefit by having two different Michelin compound options on weekends, similar to that of the FIA World Endurance Championship, which along with Michelin, declares two compound options for each race, outside of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where all three (Soft, Medium, Hard) are available.

***Vanthoor said: “It gives pros and cons, gives them bigger challenge to the team, the driver, the more flexibility, there could be more differences and strategies and so on. It probably comes at a cost and more difficulty for a mission to bring more tires and, and so on. More from a driver point of view, it does give a bit of excitement away and more complexity, but then the question is, do you actually need it? Will that make the races better? I don’t know.”

***With Acura having announced the ‘pausing’ of its GTP program at years’ end, Meyer Shank Racing has confirmed that it “remains open” to continuing its presence in IMSA competition and is “exploring opportunities with other OEM partners” according to a statement from the Ohio-based team.

***Longtime Michelin Pilot Challenge entrants Rebel Rock Racing had submitted a GTD entry request for the Michelin Endurance Cup races this year with its Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo entry, which was denied according to team manager/driver Robin Liddell. The team has instead focused its GT3 efforts in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS this year, having debuted last weekend at Circuit of The Americas.

***Liddell told Sportscar365: “I submitted an entry for that. I didn’t have any expectation of getting an entry for it. We still have aspirations of doing some of those long races in time. But I think for this year, that’s clearly not going to happen.”

***VP Racing Fuels has increased the price of its fuels, effective immediately. In a bulletin sent to teams last week, the company is implementing a $1 USD per gallon surcharge for E10 and E20 fuels, while renewable R80 fuel, used in the GTP class has a $0.25 per gallon surcharge to account for the increased freight costs to deliver fuel to events due to higher diesel costs.

***The surcharges have been applied to all VP customers and other race series according to VP Racing’s senior VP of global sales Bruce Hendel, who indicated that the increased costs are intended to be temporary amid the ongoing unrest in the Middle East that has raised fuel costs around the world.

***IMSA and the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) have formed a multi-faceted partnership that will offer a pipeline of ASE Certified technicians to work on manufacturer vehicles through expanded awareness of ASE Certification, identify career pathways in the transportation industry, as well as positioning ASE as a major driver in meeting manufacturer needs.

***ASE President and CEO Dave Johnson said: “ASE is excited to partner with IMSA to highlight the critical role of ASE Certified technicians — the men and women who meet the highest independently verified standards in the industry, on and off the track. IMSA’s commitment to innovation and STEM education aligns perfectly with ASE’s mission, and together we are elevating the visibility of technician careers and showing how advanced training is vital to the safe service and repair of today’s technically advanced vehicles.”

***The Ford Raptor has been named as the ‘Official Truck’ of Laguna Seca. This partnership brings an on-site presence to race weekends, highlighted by a fleet of F-150 Raptors, Ranger Raptors and Bronco Raptor. These vehicles are featured across the facility, showcasing Ford’s engineering and off-road heritage to fans and participants alike.

***As part of the agreement, Ford Racing will deliver premium fan engagement and hospitality experiences during major events, including this weekend, which features a ‘Raptor Corkscrew Shuttle’ and Ford Racing car corral and owners lounge, a dedicated hospitality and display area, offering Mustang and Raptor owners a premium shaded seating at Turn 5 and a parade lap on Saturday.

***A final 90-minute practice session is on tap for Saturday at 9:55 a.m. PST (12:55 p.m. EST) followed by qualifying from 3:15 p.m. PST (6:15 p.m. EST) which will be streamed live on Peacock as well as IMSA’s YouTube channel, the latter which is not geo-blocked for U.S. viewers.

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