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Peter Cunningham led both practice sessions in GTS (Weber Image) |
Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., and Alex Figge, of Denver, Colo., finished one-two in their K-PAX Volvo S60s, with Pobst turning a 1:27.420 (92.162 mph), just 0.052-second ahead of his teammate. As he did in the morning session, Peter Cunningham, of Milwaukee, Wis., topped the GTS class, and Tristan Herbert, of Reston, Va., was quickest in Touring Car.
Following the pair of Volvos was a pair of Porsches, with Dino Crescentini, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., placing his No. 4 StopTech Porsche 911 GT3 third on the time sheets with a 1:27.817 (91.745 mph), and Tomy Drissi, of Los Angeles, turning a 1:27.875 (91.684 mph) in his No. 47 Ice Age Porsche 911 GT3.
Morning practice leader Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., was fifth quickest in his No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V.R with a lap of 1:27.984 (91.571), a full 1.271 seconds slower than he went in cooler temperatures. Pilgrim’s 1:26.713 (92.913 mph) stood as the quickest time overall leading into this afternoon’s qualifying session.
Cunningham was the only driver to top his class in each practice session, piloting the No. 42 Acura/HPD/RealTime Racing Acura TSX to the top time in the late morning session of 1:33.771 (85.920 mph). The time was well behind the 1:32.950 (86.679 mph) he ran in the morning, the only driver in GTS to run a lap in the 1:32s.
“Our Acuras have always been really good here, and the difference this year is that we’ve got a V6 engine that makes the straightaways shorter,” Cunningham said. “We’re going to try to convert this speed into some good points this weekend. The V6 affects the balance in a couple of corners, but not as much as we expected.”
Third in the morning session, Jack Baldwin ran the second-fastest time in practice two, a 1:34.323 (85.417 mph) in the No. 68 Voodoo Ride-Invoice Prep/Hot Wheels Porsche Cayman S. Point leader Justin Bell (No. 50 eBay Motors Ford Mustang Boss 302S) was third fastest in the second session with a 1:34.696 (85.080 mph). New to World Challenge this weekend, Mark Wilkins, of Aurora, Ontario, was fourth in the No. 38 Kia Motors America Kia Optmia, with a 1:34.816 (84.973 mph), followed by Aaron Povoledo, of Toronto, Ontario, with a 1:34.985 (84.821 mph) in the No. 26 CapaldiRacing.com Ford Mustang Boss 302S.
After sitting out the opening practice session, Herbert topped the Touring Car charts with his No. 33 HPA/RennGruppe/Brimtek/SG Racing Volkswagen GLI with a 1:39.965 (80.596 mph). Michael Cooper finished second in both sessions, turning a 1:40.155 (80.443 mph) in practice two in the No. 03 MAZDASPEED Motorsports MAZDASPEED3. Practice One leader Todd Lamb was third quickest in the No. 71 National Karting News/HPD Honda Civic, with a 1:40.452 (80.205 mph).
Lamb’s 1:39.257 (81.171 mph) was tops for the class entering this afternoon’s qualifying session.
Qualifying for Friday’s Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Sports Car Grand Prix is set for 2:50 p.m. (PDT) this afternoon. The Cadillac Sports Car Grand Prix makes its standing start at 12:20 p.m. (PDT) Friday. View the race live at www.world-challengetv.com.
For all series information, please visit www.world-challenge.com. Follow World Challenge on Twitter @WCRacing and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/pirelliworldchallenge/.