Sheldon van der Linde fronted a 1-2 finish for BMW RLL during a fairly undramatic opening IMSA free practice session at Long Beach.
Action began as part of the first sprint meeting on the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship schedule.
A 60-minute free practice session was the first of two for Round 4 with solely GTP and GTD class cars.
BMW Rahal Letterman Lanigan showcased promise after they topped the timesheets in 1-2 formation after a relatively uneventful yet productive session.
There was only brief one disruption which was due to debris at Turn 9 at the street circuit. Still, it caused a temporary two minute stoppage of a red flag before the session continued for the remaining three minutes.
S. van der Linde set a fastest lap time of 1:13.241 in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP entrant ahead of the #24 BMW of Dries Vanthoor, who set a 1:13.377 at almost two-tenths behind.
Renger van der Zande was third fastest in the #93 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06 GTP with a 1:13.241.
Mathieu Jaminet claimed fourth position in the #6 Porsche Penske 963 GTP with his 1:13.739 in front of the sister factory Porsche, the #7, which was narrowly behind in fifth after Nick Tandy’s 1:13.759 lap time.
In the GTD category, Laurens Vanthoor was quickest in the #177 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R with his 1:18.584 lap time.
Parker Thompson took second in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 (1:18.813) ahead of reigning class champion of Winward Racing, Russell Ward, in the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 (1:19.005).
Tommy Milner was in fourth place after he set a fastest time of 1:19.023 ahead of Franke Montecalvo’s #89 Lexus (1:19.025).
See here for full results – READ MORE: 27 entries line up for IMSA Grand Prix of Long Beach
