R. Ferri Shows the Way in Watkins Glen Practice 1

Toni Vilander put the championship-leading No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 at the top of the time charts in the first Blancpain GT World Challenge America practice session at Watkins Glen International.

Vilander’s session-best time of 1:43.385 seconds was 1.184 seconds clear of Dane Cameron in the No. 43 Acura NSX GT3 Evo for RealTime Racing, which was fastest of the Pro-Am class runners.

Alegra Motorsports took positions three and four with its pair of Porsche 911 GT3 R machines, headed by the No. 22 of Daniel Morad and team debutant Billy Johnson, followed by the Wolf Henzler/Marco Holzer-driven No. 24 Porsche.

K-PAX Racing took the next two spots with the No. 9 Bentley Continental GT3 of Andy Soucek and Alvaro Parente leading home the sister No. 3 car of Maxime Soulet and Rodrigo Baptista.

Turner Motorsport’s No. 96 BMW M6 GT3 was quickest in the Am class in 14th overall.

A red flag halfway through the session for an incident involving the No. 19 One11 Competition Ferrari of Christopher Cagnazzi brought proceedings to a halt for around ten minutes as track workers were forced to make repairs to the tire barrier in Turn 9.

Cagnazzi exited the car under his own power following the accident.

Practice 2 is set for 5:30 ET.

RESULTS: Practice 1