Bell Sets GR Cup Practice Pace in Sonoma

Jaxon Bell set the fastest overall time of the day across both Friday Toyota GR Cup North America practice sessions at Sonoma Raceway, with just one-tenth of a second covering the fastest five drivers.

Bell set the overall pace in Practice 2 with a 1:52.106-second lap in his No. 7 Copeland Motorsports Toyota GR86, a mere 0.025 seconds up on Westin Workman, who races under the BSI banner in 2025 after driving for Copeland last season.

Third fastest overall was RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate’s Will Robusto, just ahead of stablemate Spike Kohlbecker’s No. 55 GR86 in fourth.

Lucas Weisenberg set the fifth quickest time on Friday, just 0.095 seconds off of Bell’s benchmark time.

Overall, drivers set their quickest laps in dry conditions in Practice 2, after a morning session that saw over a third of the field not leave pit lane to turn laps on a damp track.

No fewer than 11 drivers did not take part in first practice, including all six Copeland cars, all four Nito Motorsports entries, and PT Autosport with Copeland’s Zach Hollingshead.

A red flag-impacted morning practice session saw two separate stoppages for separate incidents in tricky conditions.

First, Shea Holbrook’s No. 67 BSI Racing GR86 went for a spin early on before eventually continuing. Livio Galanti later spun and required recovery in his No. 89 Eagles Canyon Racing Powered by Fast Track entry.

The second and final half-hour practice session ran without interruption, with all 31 drivers turning laps in their single-make Toyotas.

GR Cup qualifying is slated for Saturday morning at 9:05 a.m. PST ahead of the first race of the season later that afternoon.

RESULTS: Practice 1/Practice 2