Blomqvist’s Acura Sets The Pace At Road America

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Acura continued in its recent form as the pacesetter in the Grand Touring Prototype class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as Tom Blomqvist led the first practice session for the Motul SportsCar Grand Prix Friday at Road America.

Blomqvist, who last time out teamed with Colin Braun to win the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International, guided the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 around the majestic 4.048-mile Road America circuit in 1 minute, 51.255 seconds, averaging 130.985 mph.

Blomqvist and the Meyer Shank team recently tested at the popular Wisconsin venue, and they came away pleased with what they learned. Acura is on a two-race win streak, with Meyer Shank’s No. 93 car taking the victory in late May at the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic.

“This is a great track for us; it brings out the strengths in our car, and in the past we have always been competitive,” Blomqvist said. “So, we’re all pretty excited, and hopeful we can fight for the victory again.”

A pleasant surprise in second was Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team’s Aston Martin Valkyrie. Gunn had the distinctive car’s V-12 engine singing as he lapped within a tenth of a second of the lead Acura, clocking 1:51.328 (130.899 mph).

The Aston’s best qualifying performance to date in its first year of competition was ninth at Watkins Glen, where Gunn and co-driver Roman De Angelis finished a season-best eighth.

“We had a tough start to the year, but we really have dug deep to keep pushing, believing that we can get the good results flowing,” said Gunn. “There’s great team harmony, and that comes from the top all the way down to the bottom. The team is really coming into its own now, and I think definitely we are improving race by race.”

All five manufacturers competing in the GTP class were represented in Friday’s top five. Jack Aitken was third quick in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R (1:51.590/130.592 mph), followed by Dries Vanthoor in the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 (1:51.655/130.515 mph), and Nick Tandy in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 (1:51.835/130.305 mph).

Porsche has won the last two races at Road America; the team’s championship-leading No. 6 shared by Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell was seventh fastest Friday, the last car to break the 1:52 barrier.

Mikkel Jensen (No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07) led the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, which boasts a season-high 14-car entry at Road America. His 1 minute, 52.781-second effort was more than three-tenths of a second quicker than Paul Di Resta, who leads the LMP2 point standings with Daniel Goldburg in the No. 22 ORECA fielded by United Autosports USA. Both United entries head into Saturday’s qualifying needing to post two fast laps as each car caused a red flag in practice and will lose their fastest qualifying lap.

Russell Ward was fastest in the Grand Touring Daytona class in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 at 2:04.991 (116.590 mph). Ward and Philip Ellis lead the GTD season standings over the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, which Parker Thompson drove to the second fastest time Friday.

“This is one of my favorite tracks and I can’t wait to get out there Sunday,” Ward said. “A lot of these races are won back at the workshop, and for us, I think this race is all about execution and keeping the nose clean.”

Giacomo Altoe and Albert Costa in their No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 followed their recent GTD PRO class victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park by topping the practice times at Road America. Altoe’s 2:05.844 (115.800 mph) circuit was exactly 0.1 mph faster than Daniel Serra in Conquest Racing’s similar No. 34 Ferrari 296 GT3 he shares with Wisconsin native Manny Franco, competing in his home race.