Team Penske continued their impressive debut season pace Friday morning as Dane Cameron topped the FP1 practice charts in Prototypes at Watkins Glen International.
Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya’s #6 Acura DPi led Jordan Taylor and the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi by nearly a second. The Wayne Taylor team entered the race weekend looking to improve pace, as the defending champions have been kept out of victory lane through five starts in 2018.
Rounding out the top three was Romain Dumas, fresh off of a record breaking Pikes Peak Hill Climb performance, in the #54 CORE Autosport ORECA LMP2. This performance was a breath of fresh air for LMP2 programs, as teams have struggled to match the pace of the DPi throughout the season.
Typically the more dominant of the two Penske cars, Jordan’s brother Ricky Taylor was sixth fastest in the #7 Acura DPi.
The championship leading #5 of Action Express Racing entered the weekend without star driver Joao Barbosa due to injury related to a cycling accident. IndyCar driver Gabby Chaves made his return to endurance racing in FP1, but ultimately Filipe Albuquerque would mark the entry’s best time at a concerning P7.
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing set the GTLM pace, marking the top two times with Richard Westbrook in the #67 and Dirk Mueller in the #66. Patrick Pilet held P2 in his Porsche, well ahead of 2018 Le Mans winning teammate Laurens Vanthoor in P6. The dual Corvettes rounded out the top five, with Antonio Garcia besting Oliver Gavin.
Jack Hawksworth topped GTD in his Lexus, ahead of the dual Ferraris of Jeff Segal and Daniel Serra. After missing out on a possible win after starting on pole at Detroit, Madison Snow marked the 12th fastest time in the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini.
The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship returns to the track for Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen Practice 2 at 2:50 p.m. ET.
