Heylen Tops Opening Practice at COTA

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Jan Heylen led the way in opening practice for Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS at Circuit of The Americas.

The Wright Motorsports driver reeled off a 2:05.941 lap time in the No. 20 Porsche 911 GT3 R to go quickest in the 45-minute session Friday in Austin.

The Belgian’s time was 0.048 seconds quicker than the No. 04 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Colin Braun, with Giacomo Altoe third and the best of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evos.

All three pacesetters were in the Pro-Am class.

The No. 33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 led the way in the Pro class, with the pair of K-PAX Racing Lamborghinis ending up 11th and 12th overall on the time sheets.

K-PAX’s No. 6 Lamborghini, which swept the season-opening weekend at Sonoma Raceway, was marginally quicker than the sister No. 3 entry.

Robby Foley put the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 second on the Pro class time sheets, thanks to a 2:07.241 lap time.

The debuting inception racing McLaren 720S GT3 was eighth quickest overall, ahead of the lone Am class entry run by AF Corse in ninth.

A second practice session is on tap for 3:35 p.m. CT.

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