Farnbacher, Acura Quickest in Pre Qualifying at Laguna Seca

Photo: Dirk Bogaerts/SRO

Honda Team Motul has topped the time sheets in Pre Qualifying for the California 8 Hours, with Mario Farnbacher leading the way in Thursday’s final practice session at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The German, aboard the JAS Motorsport-run Acura NSX GT3 Evo, recorded a 1:24.060 lap time in the 90-minute session, edging out the pair of factory-backed Porsche 911 GT3 Rs.

Farnbacher’s time was marginally slower than Dries Vanthoor’s 1:23.971 lap set in Free Practice, which stood as quickest of the day.

The No. 911 Park Place Motorsports Porsche ended up second quickest in Pre Qualifying, followed by the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour-winning lineup in third, driving for Wright Motorsports this weekend.

The No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 and Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS Evo completed the top-five in the uneventful 90-minute session.

Newly minted Bentley boy Markus Palttala was sixth quickest in the No. 108 Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3, ahead of the BMW Team Schnitzer entry.

The No. 35 KCMG Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, No. 44 Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and No. 10 WRT Audi completed the top-ten.

TRG, meanwhile, led the way in GT4, thanks to a 1:32.650 lap set in the team’s No. 67 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, which is pulling double duty between the California 8 Hours and pair of Pirelli GT4 America West races this weekend.

The No. 41 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4, which topped every session in class so far this week, did not set a competitive time.

Qualifying gets underway on Friday at 11:20 a.m. PST, followed by the Top 10 Pole Shootout in the afternoon.

RESULTS: Pre-Qualifying

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