Cooper Quickest in Sprint Practice 1

Photo: John Dagys

Michael Cooper topped the time charts in the first official practice session for this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge Sprint season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The Cadillac driver reeled off a quick time of 1:23.130 in his No. 8 Cadillac ATS.V-R to go quickest in the 30-minute session on Friday morning.

Cooper edged out GT championship hopeful Patrick Long by 0.144 seconds, with the No. 2 CRP Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra of Kyle Marcelli third.

Bryan Heitkotter (Always Evolving Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3) and Alvaro Parente (K-PAX McLaren 650S GT3) made it five different manufacturers in the top-five.

Recently crowned GTA champion Martin Fuentes was quickest in class, peddling his No. 07 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 to the 9th best time overall.

Sloan Urry, meanwhile, led the way in GT Cup, posting a 1:29.984 lap time in his TrueSpeed Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Practice 2 gets underway at 2:05 p.m. PT.

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