Mancinelli Quickest in Friday Practice at Long Beach

Photo: Brian Cleary/PWC

Daniel Mancinelli made a smashing return to Pirelli World Challenge competition, having topped the time charts in opening practice for Sunday’s Sprint round.

The TR3 Racing driver laid down a 1:19.262 lap time late in the 60-minute session, edging out the No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Daniel Morad by 0.257 seconds.

Mancinelli has returned to PWC competition after sitting out the Sprint season-opener at St. Pete in protest over the Balance of Performance given to his Ferrari 488 GT3, which has not changed since that event.

Toni Vilander, in an identically equipped Ferrari Evo, set the third quickest time in the session, ahead of Alec Udell in fourth and ahead of factory driver Michael Christensen and championship leader Scott Hargrove, who completed the top-six.

The TR3-run Ferrari of Martin Fuentes topped GTA, thanks to a 1:20.528 lap time.

Paul Holton, meanwhile, was quickest out of the GTS Invitational entries in the No. 78 Compass Racing McLaren 570S GT4.

The session was halted early for an accident involving the No. 3 K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3 of Rodrigo Baptista, which sustained moderate damage.

A second and final practice session for PWC competitors is on tap for Saturday at 8:45 a.m. PT, followed by qualifying.

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