Pla Quickest in Rain-Affected Practice at Watkins Glen

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Olivier Pla was quickest in a rain-affected practice session prior to Friday’s WeatherTech 240 at The Glen.

The Frenchman reeled off a best lap of 1:48.813 in his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 to outpace the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Renger van der Zande by 0.140 seconds in the one-and-only session prior to qualifying this evening.

Van der Zande’s time came after his co-driver Kevin Magnussen suffered an accident at the Bus Stop chicane, which brought out one of three red flags in the incident-filled session.

A stoppage for the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P of Oliver Jarvis and spin for the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Jarett Andretti were the causes of the two other red flags.

The majority of the quickest times up front came in the closing minutes as the 3.4-mile circuit began to dry out following a heavy downpour that affected the majority of the session.

Ricky Taylor ended up third quickest in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura DPi, followed by Felipe Nasr and Harry Tincknell, who completed the top-five for Action Express Racing and Mazda, respectively.

Gabriel Aubry was quickest in LMP2 in his Tower Motorsport by Starworks Oreca 07 Gibson while Andretti’s Oliver Askew paced the LMP3 class.

The No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Nick Tandy wound up quickest of the three GT Le Mans cars taking part this week, leading a Corvette 1-2 in class.

Robby Foley led the way in GT Daytona, thanks to a 2:02.785 lap time in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen class-winning No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.

Foley edged out the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 of Aaron Telitz and Mario Farnbacher’s No. 76 Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo.

Qualifying is scheduled to get underway at 5:40 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Practice

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