McDonald Tops Opening Practice at Indianapolis

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Blake McDonald led the way in the first official practice session of the weekend for GT America powered by AWS competitors, putting his DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R atop the time sheets.

McDonald’s 1:24.259 was 0.066 seconds quicker than the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of George Kurtz, who is making his series return for the first time since Long Beach in April.

Kenny Habul, who blitzed the field in the final GT America test session earlier this morning with a 1:23.955 lap time, his personal best around Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was third quickest in the first official session.

Habul, in the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG, also topped the time charts in the GTA/GT4 Paid Bronze test that ran immediately prior to GTA Practice 1.

The No. 19 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Joel Cortes and Ross Chouest’s No. 50 Corvette completed the overall top-five and in the SRO3 class.

Evan King led the way in GT2 in his debuting Flying Lizard Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2.

GT4, meanwhile, was paced by Mike Johnson, in his racing return after a 20-year hiatus, aboard the No. 007 Achangel by ProSport Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

The Archangel Motorsports team owner was more than two seconds quicker than his nearest competition in class.

Both SRO3 points leader Justin Rothberg as well as second-placed Kyle Washington didn’t turn laps in the 30-minute session.

Next up for GT America is Practice 2, which is on tap for 3:55 p.m. EST.

Source: Sports Car 365