Nasr Leads Red Flag-Impacted Opening Practice at Long Beach

Photo: Phil Abbott/IMSA

Felipe Nasr topped a red-flag interrupted opening practice for Saturday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, leading a Cadillac 1-2 in the session.

Nasr’s 1:13.498 in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R was 0.835 seconds faster than Renger van der Zande in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing entry in the 60-minute scheduled session that featured a total of three red flags.

An accident for the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 of Olivier Pla with 14 minutes to go brought the session to an early end.

It came after previous reds for the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P of Oliver Jarvis, which stopped on track, and a spin for Alex Riberas in the No. 27 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Pla had set the session’s third quickest time prior to his accident, which damaged the left side of the car.

The No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac of Tristan Vautier was fourth quickest, with the DPi championship-leading No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura DPi completing the top-five.

Nick Tandy led the way in the GT Le Mans class in the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R while a late flyer by Patrick Long put the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R on top of the time charts in GT Daytona.

Long’s 1:20.554 lap was 0.172 seconds quicker than the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Bryan Sellers, with Bill Auberlen third quickest in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.

Practice 2 is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. PT followed by qualifying later in the afternoon.

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