Albuquerque Downplays Leading Opening Road America Practice

Filipe Albuquerque saved the best for the final minute. Albuquerque leaped to the top of the chart Friday during his final lap in the first practice session for Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America, the eighth of 11 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races this season.

He was clocked at 1 minute, 51.089 seconds (131.180 mph) in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit, the fastest overall lap of the day and best in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class.

“It’s just a free practice,” said Albuquerque, who co-drives the No. 10 with Ricky Taylor. “It’s good to be P1 to tell my mom and friends, but it does not go beyond that.”

Albuquerque recorded the lap just before a spin by WTRAndretti teammate Danny Formal (No. 45 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2) brought out a red flag and ended the 90-minute session early. It knocked Connor De Phillippi off the top of the chart with his lap of 1:51.500 (130.697 mph) in the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 he co-drives with Nick Yelloly.

Paul Di Resta had the best lap in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class with an effort of 1:53.486 (128.410 mph) in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 he co-drives with Daniel Goldburg.

Frederik Schandorff led the way in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) by clocking in at 2:05.242 (116.356 mph) in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO he co-drives with Brendan Iribe. In GTD PRO, Antonio Garcia recorded a leading lap of 2:05.369 (116.238 mph) in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R he shares with Alexander Sims.

Corvette Racing Commemorating 300th Global Start This Weekend

Three hundred events is a major milestone for any racing driver or team, and that’s the mark the Corvette Racing program is notching at the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America.

Since making its debut at the 1999 Rolex 24 At Daytona, Corvette Racing has achieved 115 race wins out of 255 starts in IMSA competition. Chevrolet and Corvette Racing have also claimed 14 manufacturer championships.

This year has seen a fundamental change to the Corvette Racing program, with Chevrolet offering for the first time a GT3-homologated car to customer teams in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports (Chevrolet’s long-term development partner) prepares two factory-supported Corvette Z06 GT3.R entries in the GTD PRO class, while AWA fields the No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R in GTD.

Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia scored the Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s first IMSA victory in the most recent round of the WeatherTech Championship, three weeks ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in the No. 3 Corvette.

“When I heard about the 300th, I wondered how many of those I did,” admitted Garcia, who has made just over half (153) of those starts since joining the program in 2009. “It all adds up – many championships, many races. I’m very proud of what I accomplished with Corvette Racing, and what they gave me to have such a great career with them.

“Now I’m one of the oldest guys in the team, and I see so many familiar faces around the paddock that have been part of Corvette Racing the whole time. That’s what makes the whole thing so successful – everything runs pretty smooth.”

Garcia set the fastest GTD PRO practice time at Road America on Friday, lapping the 4.048-mile circuit in 2 minutes, 5.369 seconds (116.238 mph).

“I’ve always loved this racetrack and always have fun here,” Garcia said. “It’s a driver’s track and you can make a difference.”