Noaker Tops Red Flag-Impacted Practice 2 at Le Mans

Robert Noaker led the way in a red flag-impacted Practice 2 at the Circuit de la Sarthe during the Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational weekend in France.

After setting the Practice 1 pace this morning, Noaker improved on his previous benchmark to top the times with a 4:21.271 lap aboard his No. 13 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R.

Margins were closer in second practice however, with Cameron McLeod finishing the session 2.692 seconds off of the Robert Noaker Racing driver’s best lap.

Sam Paley finished the 45-minute session third-quickest in the No. 26 Paley Motorsport Mustang with Matt Nicoll-Jones behind in fourth in his Academy Motorsport machine.

Meanwhile, RNR’s Sandy Satullo rounded out the overall and Dark Horse class top five.

Alex Bachoura was once again quickest of the Dark Horse Legends competitors, 0.758 seconds up on Alfonso Diaz. 2023 Formula Drift Champion Chelsea DeNofa went quickest in Dark Horse Stars, with Tanner Foust second.

A red flag came out ten minutes into the 45-minute practice session. A Ford Performance representative told Sportscar365 that, “This red flag allowed Ford Performance to do a full field calibration following a technical update.”

After the field went green with 15 minutes remaining, Dan McKeever slowed on track just before Anthony Quinn pulled his No. 101 Dark Horse R off the track at Arnage, bringing out local Slow Zones.

After the checkered flag was displayed, another Slow Zone emerged near Arnage for an incident between Ford CEO Jim Farley and Automatic Racing’s Tate Pritt. The incident is under investigation by Race Control.

Qualifying for the Mustang Challenge invitational field is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. CEST on Thursday to set the grid for both races this weekend on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

RESULTS: Practice 2