Laguna Seca IMSA: WTR Cadillac and Fords lead in FP1

Taylor’s best effort around the undulating 2.238-mile road course in Monterey, Calif., was a 1min18.462sec lap, enough to put him 0.166sec of Ryan Dalziel’s quickest time in the ESM Nissan DPi,  while Renger Van der Zande was 0.4sec further behind in the VisitFlorida Racing Ligier.

Defending champion Dane Cameron was a full 0.7sec off the pace in the faster of the Action Express Racing Cadillacs, a few hundredths ahead of the second Nissan, driven by Johnannes van Overbeek, and a little over a tenth ahead of teammate Joao Barbosa.

In GT Le Mans, Briscoe and Hand were a tenth apart while sending their Ford GTs to a 1-2 result, but Tommy Milner’s #4 Corvette was only half a tenth off Hand, and Giancarlo Fisichella was a similar distance behind in the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488.

The Porsche 911 RSRs of Dirk Werner and Laguna Seca debutant Laurens Vanthoor were fifth and seventh, split by the BMW M6 of Alexander Sims.

Daniel Morad (Alegra Motorsports) and Colin Braun (CORE autosport) made GT Daytona a Porsche 911 GT3 R-dominated affair, while Jens Klingmann was third in the Turner Motorsports BMW M6.

However, Balance of Performance has ensured the field is close, with Ozz Negri fewer than three tenths from the pace in the fastest of the Michael Shank Racing Acura NSXs, with Alessandro Balzan another tenth behind for Scuderia Corsa (Ferrari) and Jorg Bergmeister half a tenth in arrears to claim sixth for Park Place Motorsports.

The second session begins at 2.50pm local time, 5.50pm ET.