Piana, Muehlner Sets GTS Pace Friday in St. Pete

Photo: Brian Cleary/PWC

Gabriele Piana put the No. 21 Muehlner Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR on the top of the GTS time charts Friday in St. Pete, following the opening day of practice for this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge season-opener.

The Swiss driver reeled off a best time of 1:19.099 in the second practice session, improving on his pace-setting time from the morning session by more than one-tenth.

Piana was 0.263 seconds quicker than the No. 55 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4 of Jade Buford in second, with defending GTS class champion Lawson Aschenbach third quickest in his No. 1 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R.

Drew Staveley, who missed Practice 1, recorded the fourth quickest time overall in the afternoon, and best of the GTSA competitors, in his Ginetta G55 GT4, with James Sofronas completing the top-five in the No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4.

Sofronas, the reigning GTA class champion, moves to the GTS class full-time this year.

No major incidents were reported in the session, or on the day.

GTS qualifying is on tap for 9:40 a.m. ET on Saturday, followed by Race 1 in the afternoon.

RESULTS: Practice 2

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