Sofronas Tops Opening Practice at Indy

Photo: Brian Cleary/SRO

James Sofronas led the way in the opening GT America powered by AWS practice session of the weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The GMG Racing team owner/driver took his No. 14 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II to a best lap of 1:25.064 in the 30-minute session, which was interrupted for an incident between Johnny O’Connell and Jason Bell.

Sofronas was nearly four-tenths clear of the second-fastest No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Justin Rothberg.

Kyle Washington made it two GMG-entered cars in the top-three, followed by SRO3 class championship leader Jason Daskalos in fourth.

O’Connell, who was handed incident responsibility for the clash with Bell, completed the top-five in his No. 3 SKI Autosports Audi after serving a drive-through penalty.

Bell, meanwhile, ended the session in sixth in his No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

The return of the GT2 class saw Dan Knox go quickest in his No. 10 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT2, ahead of the GMG Audi R8 LMS GT2 of CJ Moses.

Isaac Sherman, who already clinched the GT4 title, was quickest in class in his No. 098 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

The Bronze Test session, which preceded GT America opening practice, was impacted by a fire from the No. 007 ProSport Competition Aston Martin of Tim Savage, which resulted in a lengthy red flag period.

A second practice session for all GT America competitors is set for 2:20 p.m. EDT.

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