Heylen Paces Road America Practice in RS1 Porsche

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Jan Heylen led the way following a pair of IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge practice sessions for tomorrow’s Road America 120.

Heylen, in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, recorded a best time of 2:15.343 in Friday morning’s opening practice session, outpacing the No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 of Nate Cicero by 0.061 seconds.

The No. 14 AR Motorsports Porsche of Thomas Merrill was third quickest overall and in the GS class, followed by Gregory Liefooghe and Jeff Westphal in their Stephen Cameron Racing Mustang GT4 and CarBahn with Peregrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVOs, respectively.

The top six times all came from the cooler, morning session, while Westphal recorded the quickest lap in Practice 2, a 2:15.837.

TCR was led by the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR, thanks to a 2:16.777 lap time by LP Montour that was set in the second session.

Each session featured an early red flag, the first for an accident by the debuting No. 99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Team CUPRA Leon VZ TCR of Tyler Gonzalez, who made contact with the Turn 4 wall on his out-lap.

The No. 54 Panam Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 of Caio Chaves, meanwhile, had two incidents, with his car ending up off-course in Turn 11 to bring out a red with just eight minutes into the second session.

Both cars will lose their quickest qualifying time as a result of causing red flags in practice.

The VGRT CUPRA, meanwhile, did return to the track in the second session to set the fifth quickest time in class.

Qualifying is on tap for 5:55 p.m. CST.

RESULTS: Practice (Combined)

Source: Sports Car 365