Pruett Leads DP Sweep in Opening Practice at Long Beach

Photo: Darren Pierson

A late flyer by Scott Pruett made it a Ford 1-2 in the opening practice for Saturday’s Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach.

The No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford led the way, with Pruett laying down a 1:16.441 lap time in the final moments of the two-hour session.

He outran out the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford of Ozz Negri by 0.240 seconds, with Joao Barbosa’s No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP third on the overall time sheets.

DP-based machinery dominated the session, sweeping the top five positions. The quickest non-DP was the No. 42 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan of Gustavo Yacaman, who reeled off a 1:17.382 lap time, but nearly one second slower than Pruett’s best time.

The two Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03bs wound up seventh and eighth, with only the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette DP and the pair of Mazda P2 cars slower.

Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin was quickest in the GTLM class, thanks to the Englishman’s 1:19.797 in his No. 4 Corvette C7.R.

Gavin edged out the No. 55 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE of defending race winner Bill Auberlen by 0.027 seconds, with Dirk Mueller’s sister BMW slotting in third quickest.

It was a session to forget for the Daytona and Sebring class-winning Porsche North America squad. The No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR completed only three laps after suffering engine issues, while Nick Tandy stopped on track with a vibration, which brought out the second and final red flag.

The first red was for the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP of Michael Valiante, who stopped in Turn 1.. The car quickly returned to action.

A second 30-minute practice session is on tap for 5:05 p.m. PT, just prior to qualifying.

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