Leist Leads Way in Opening Practice at Indianapolis

Photo: Fred Hardy/SRO

Matheus Leist led the way in Thursday’s one-and-only Pirelli GT4 America practice session for this weekend’s pair of season-ending races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Nolasport driver took his No. 47 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to a best lap of 1:29.997 in the 45-minute session, outpacing the No. 68 RAFA Racing Team Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 of Westin Workman by 0.462 seconds.

Silver class championship leader Spencer Pumpelly was third quickest in the No. 028 RS1 Porsche, with Michael Cooper making a late-session improvement in the No. 33 Blackdog Racing McLaren Artura GT4 of Michael Cooper.

Yves Baltas completed the top five in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche.

It came despite Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Ryan Yardley setting a quicker time.

However, Yardley’s co-driver Damir Hot spun the No. 25 ACI Motorsports Porsche into the Turn 4 gravel trap to bring out the red flag with seven minutes left on the clock and lost the car’s quickest lap as a result.

The session resumed with four minutes left on the clock.

Frankie Muniz, who along with TechSport Racing co-driver Tyler Stone lead the Am class points entering the weekend, topped his class with the 14th quickest overall lap.

Practice 2 is on tap for Friday at 11:35 a.m. EST, followed by qualifying at 2:45 p.m. EST.

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