OAK Dominates Friday Practice at CTMP

Photo: John Dagys

After coming up short in last month’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, OAK Racing has thrown down the gauntlet Friday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, as the French squad’s Morgan-Nissan topped the time charts in both practice sessions in dominant fashion.

Gustavo Yacaman was the star of the day, as the Colombian soared to a quick lap of 1:09.853 late in the second practice. Yacaman’s time was nearly 1 second clear of the competition, in a session that also saw co-driver Olivier Pla go quickest in the Prototype class.

Yacaman, in his first visit to the historic 2.459-mile, 10-turn circuit, was the only driver to break the 1:10 barrier.

The No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of Joao Barbosa was second quickest in the afternoon session and of the day with a 1:10.725 lap time.

Richard Westbrook’s No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP completed the top-three overall and in the Prototype class.

The pair of Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03bs showed pace in the late morning session but wound up 6th and 7th in the afternoon, with Johannes van Overbeek’s 1:11.728 edging out teammate Scott Sharp.

GT Le Mans was led by the No. 3 Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen, who reeled off a 1:15.749. Magnussen, who along with co-driver Antonio Garcia search for their fourth consecutive class win, was 0.108 seconds quicker than the No. 91 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R of Marc Goossens in second.

Dirk Mueller made it three different manufacturers in the top-three, pedaling his No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE to a best lap of 1:15.870.

Park Place Motorsports, meanwhile, was quickest of the day in GT Daytona, thanks to Kevin Estre’s 1:19.311 lap time set in his No. 73 Porsche 911 GT America.

Estre edged out the No. 58 Snow Racing Porsche of Madison Snow by 0.095 seconds in the second session, with the morning pace-setting No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS of Spencer Pumpelly third on the time charts.

Friday’s afternoon session saw two notable incidents, the first involving the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette DP of Boris Said, who went off in Turn 1.

Said has been transported to an area hospital for evaluation.

The DeltaWing coupe, meanwhile, grenaded an engine in the closing minutes of the session, which saw the car stop on the near the start/finish line with smoke and fire billowing from the rear of the car.

Andy Meyrick, who was aboard the car at the time, was taken into an ambulance. No medical update has been given on Meyrick’s condition.

Stay tuned for further medical updates on both drivers.

RESULTS: Practice 2

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