Sebring 12H: Conway heads Cadillac 1-2 in first practice
Mike Conway sent the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R to the top of the times in opening practice for the 69th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, heading Chip Ganassi Racing’s similar machine.
Conway lapped the 3.74-mile 17-turn course in 1min46.212sec over the course of 27 laps to lead Ganassi’s Renger van der Zande by 0.4sec by the end of the hour-long session.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura ARX-05 was third fastest in Dane Cameron’s hands, despite causing a red flag when it stopped on the front straight, while Tristan Vautier was fourth in the JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac.
Defending IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Prototype champion Ricky Taylor clocked fifth fastest in the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura, albeit 1.2sec from Conway, while the AXR’s second entry, for only the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds, was fifth thanks to 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud.
The #55 Mazda that won last November’s Sebring 12H finished the opening session seventh.
Mikkel Jensen did a predictably strong job for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in LMP2, topping the class with a best time just 2sec behind the DPi Mazda.
But no less impressive was the returning Guy Smith – in his first Sebring outing since 2013 – 0.8sec in arrears in the United Autosports entry, eclipsing third placed Thomas Merrill (WIN Autosport) by 1.8sec.
In GT Le Mans, Jordan Taylor’s best effort in the #3 Corvette C8.R – a 1min56.715sec – put him ahead of all the LMP3 entries, and 0.559sec ahead of Mathieu Jaminet in the WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19.
Tommy Milner was third in the second Corvette, with the two BMW M8s completing the class.
Jeroen Bleekemolen (Riley Motorsports) and Colin Braun (CORE autosport) were class of the LMP3 field, just 0.075sec apart, but their Ligiers were very closely pursued by the chasing pack, the top five covered by just 0.4sec.
The irrepressible Bill Auberlen topped GT Daytona for Turner Motorsports (BMW M6 GT3) with Jack Hawksworth (Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3), Frank Perera (Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3), Earl Bamber (Hardpoint EBM Porsche 911 GT3 R) and Maro Engel (Sun Energy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3) ensuring five different marques in the top five.
Second practice begins at 1.55pm local (Eastern) time.
Practice results:
| Cla | Num | Driver | Class | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 |  Felipe Nasr  Mike Conway Pipo Derani | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 27 | 1'46.212 | |
| 2 | 01 |  Renger van der Zande  Kevin Magnussen  Scott Dixon | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 21 | 1'46.619 | 0.407 |
| 3 | 60 |  Dane Cameron  Olivier Pla  Juan Pablo Montoya | DPi | Acura DPi | 20 | 1'46.925 | 0.713 |
| 4 | 5 | Tristan Vautier Loic Duval Sébastien Bourdais | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 23 | 1'47.160 | 0.948 |
| 5 | 10 | Ricky Taylor  Filipe Albuquerque Alexander Rossi | DPi | Acura DPi | 20 | 1'47.446 | 1.234 |
| 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson  Kamui Kobayashi Simon Pagenaud | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 21 | 1'47.599 | 1.387 |
| 7 | 55 | Oliver Jarvis Harry Tincknell Jonathan Bomarito | DPi | Mazda DPi | 22 | 1'47.969 | 1.757 |
| 8 | 52 | Ben Keating Mikkel Jensen Scott Huffaker | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 25 | 1'49.920 | 3.708 |
| 9 | 22 | James McGuire Wayne Boyd Guy Smith | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 23 | 1'50.745 | 4.533 |
| 10 | 11 | Thomas Steven Tristan Nunez Thomas Merrill | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 20 | 1'52.384 | 6.172 |
| 11 | 8 |  John Farano Gabriel Aubry Timothé Buret | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 24 | 1'52.486 | 6.274 |
| 12 | 18 | Dwight Merriman Kyle Tilley Ryan Dalziel | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 4 | 1'54.957 | 8.745 |
| 13 | 3 |  Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor Nick Catsburg | GTLM | Corvette C8.R | 18 | 1'56.715 | 10.503 |
| 14 | 91 | Jim Cox Dylan Murry Jeroen Bleekemolen | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 20 | 1'56.917 | 10.705 |
| 15 | 54 | Jon Bennett George Kurtz Colin Braun | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 19 | 1'56.992 | 10.780 |
| 16 | 83 | Matthew Bell Rodrigo Sales Niklas Kruetten | LMP3 | Duqueine D08 | 16 | 1'57.057 | 10.845 |
| 17 | 74 | Gar Robinson  Scott Andrews Spencer Pigot | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 25 | 1'57.151 | 10.939 |
| 18 | 79 | Cooper MacNeil Mathieu Jaminet Matt Campbell | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | 22 | 1'57.274 | 11.062 |
| 19 | 33 | Joao Barbosa Yann Clairay Lance Willsey | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 25 | 1'57.335 | 11.123 |
| 20 | 4 | Tommy Milner Nick Tandy Alexander Sims | GTLM | Corvette C8.R | 22 | 1'57.577 | 11.365 |
| 21 | 25 | Connor de Phillippi  Philipp Eng Bruno Spengler | GTLM | BMW M8 GTE | 27 | 1'57.710 | 11.498 |
| 22 | 38 |  Rasmus Lindh  Mateo Llarena Dan Goldburg | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 22 | 1'58.122 | 11.910 |
| 23 | 24 | John Edwards  Jesse Krohn Augusto Farfus | GTLM | BMW M8 GTE | 23 | 1'58.167 | 11.955 |
| 24 | 7 | Jim Norman Oliver Askew Austin McCusker | LMP3 | Duqueine D08 | 21 | 1'59.072 | 12.860 |
| 25 | 96 | Bill Auberlen Robby Foley Aidan Read | GTD | BMW M6 GT3 | 24 | 2'00.456 | 14.244 |
| 26 | 14 | Aaron Telitz Jack Hawksworth Kyle Kirkwood | GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | 21 | 2'00.663 | 14.451 |
| 27 | 19 |  Stephen Simpson Franck Perera  Tim Zimmermann | GTD | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 24 | 2'00.966 | 14.754 |
| 28 | 99 | Rob Ferriol Earl Bamber Trenton Estep | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 26 | 2'01.140 | 14.928 |
| 29 | 75 | Kenny Habul Maro Engel Mikael Grenier | GTD | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 25 | 2'01.158 | 14.946 |
| 30 | 16 | Patrick Long  Jan Heylen Trent Hindman | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 23 | 2'01.240 | 15.028 |
| 31 | 1 | Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Corey Lewis | GTD | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 22 | 2'01.661 | 15.449 |
| 32 | 9 | Zacharie Robichon Laurens Vanthoor Lars Kern | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 20 | 2'01.735 | 15.523 |
| 33 | 28 | Daniel Morad Michael de Quesada Billy Johnson | GTD | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 18 | 2'02.053 | 15.841 |
| 34 | 12 | Frankie Montecalvo Zach Veach Robert Megennis | GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | 22 | 2'02.094 | 15.882 |
| 35 | 44 | John Potter Andy Lally Spencer Pumpelly | GTD | Acura NSX GT3 | 20 | 2'02.889 | 16.677 |
| 36 | 23 | Ian James Roman De Angelis Ross Gunn | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 22 | 2'02.940 | 16.728 |
| 37 | 88 | Christina Nielsen Katherine Legge | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 24 | 2'03.881 | 17.669 |
| View full results | |||||||
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About this article
| Series | IMSA |
| Event | Sebring 12 Hours |
| Author | David Malsher-Lopez |
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