ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. — Filipe Albuquerque saved the best for the final minute.
Albuquerque leaped to the top of the chart Friday during his final lap in the first practice session for Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America, the eighth of 11 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races this season.
He was clocked at 1 minute, 51.089 seconds (131.180 mph) in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit, the fastest overall lap of the day and best in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class.
“It’s just a free practice,” said Albuquerque, who co-drives the No. 10 with Ricky Taylor. “It’s good to be P1 to tell my mom and friends, but it does not go beyond that.”
Albuquerque recorded the lap just before a spin by WTRAndretti teammate Danny Formal (No. 45 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2) brought out a red flag and ended the 90-minute session early. It knocked Connor De Phillippi off the top of the chart with his lap of 1:51.500 (130.697 mph) in the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 he co-drives with Nick Yelloly.
Paul Di Resta had the best lap in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class with an effort of 1:53.486 (128.410 mph) in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 he co-drives with Daniel Goldburg.
Frederik Schandorff led the way in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) by clocking in at 2:05.242 (116.356 mph) in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO he co-drives with Brendan Iribe. In GTD PRO, Antonio Garcia recorded a leading lap of 2:05.369 (116.238 mph) in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R he shares with Alexander Sims.
A second WeatherTech Championship practice starts at 10:55 a.m. ET Saturday.