Honda & Negri Pace WeatherTech Practice

Ozz Negri

Michael L. Levitt/LAT for IMSA

Honda Ligier JS P2 driver Ozz Negri ran the fastest lap of the day on Friday in opening practice for Sunday's IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America.

Negri ran a best lap of 1:55.747 (125.9 mph) in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Curb Records/AERO Honda co-driven by John Pew. He edged out Mazda Motorsports driver Tristan Nunez by 0.118 seconds. Nunez was second with a lap of 1:55.865 (125.7 mph) in the No. 55 Castrol/ModSpace Mazda Prototype.

"We tried a couple of big changes, and it just shows the strength of the Michael Shank Racing team," Negri said. "We went on the right path and made the right changes, and we just keep getting better and better. We're fighters. I think the car has good potential. It's only practice, but it builds the confidence of the team and that's what we need."

Defending race winner Dane Cameron was third in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette Daytona Prototype, running 1:55.954 (125.6 mph), followed by Jordan Taylor, 1:55.976 (125.6 mph) in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP.

Joey Hand

Richard Dole/LAT for IMSA

In the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, Joey Hand was quickest, running 2:03.415 (118.0 mph) in the No. 66 Ford GT. Lucas Luhr was second, 2:03.927 (117.5 mph) in the No. 100 BMW Team RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW M6 GTLM, followed by Giancarlo Fisichella, 2:03.959 (117.5 mph) in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE.

The top 12 GT Daytona (GTD) competitors unofficially broke James Davison's two-year old track record. Spencer Pumpelly led the group with a lap of 2:07.078 (114.6 mph) in the No. 16 Change Racing Pertamina/Monster Energy Lamborghini Huracán GT3, followed by Mike Skeen, 2:07.118 (114.6 mph) in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Dodge Viper GT3-R, and Andy Lally, 2:07.138 (114.6 mph) in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3.

In Prototype Challenge, Colin Braun was fastest with a lap of 1:59.060 (122.3 mph) in the No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09, followed by Tom Kimber-Smith the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, 1:59.471, (122.0 mph), and points leader Renger van der Zande in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA, 1:59.619 (121.8 mph).