SunEnergy1 Quickest in Thursday Test

Photo: Chris Green/ChrisGreenPhoto.com

SunEnergy1 Racing set the pace in the pre-event test sessions at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Thursday ahead of the California 8 Hours.

The AKKA ASP-run outfit led the way with its No. 175 Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Maro Engel, Maxi Buhk and Tristan Vautier with a best time of 1:24.382 in the third and final session. 

A total of 4.5 hours of running was available to teams ahead of the Intercontinental GT Challenge finale, with two additional GT4 entries also on track for the day.

Audi Sport Team Land had the second best time, 0.164 seconds off the pace of the Mercedes, ahead of the No. 19 Audi Sport Team WRT car.

Most of the fastest times were set in the afternoon’s final 90-minute session. 

SunEnergy1 also led the way in the GT3 Pro-Am class with its No. 75 Mercedes driven by Kenny Habul, Mikael Grenier and Luca Stolz.

GMG Racing topped the GT4 class with a best time of 1:31.707 in its No. 2 Audi R8 LMS GT4 shared by James Sofronas, Jason Bell and Andrew Davis.

All three sessions had brief red-flag periods for cars going off track, but clean-up was carried out quickly with no major stoppages.

The cars involved were largely GT4 entries as well as the PPM-run Lamborghini Huracan GT3, which ground to a halt near the start-finish line.

Friday’s running gets underway with Free Practice at 9:20 a.m. local time. 

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.