Oliver Jarvis has set the quickest time for Mazda in the second free practice session for the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship at Laguna Seca in a session that was marred by a clash between Felipe Nasr and Helio Castroneves.
Jarvis’ best time of 01:15:877 in the #77 Mazda RT24-P, with Dane Cameron’s #6 Acura ARX-05 second ahead of the #55 Mazda third in the hands of Jonathan Bomarito.
Nasr’s #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-VR was hit by the #7 Acura ARX-05 of Castroneves early on in the session, damaging both cars as the Acura briefly went into the garage for repairs.
The clash between compatriots Nasr and Castroneves comes mere weeks after a controversial clash between the two cars in the final minutes at Motul Petit Le Mans. In that incident, team-mates Pipo Derani and Ricky Taylor took each other out while battling for the lead, allowing Wayne Taylor Racing to pick up the win.
Both drivers were penalized for the practice incident. Castroneves was given a stop-and-hold plus 60-second penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Nasr was handed a stop-and-go penalty for a pit exit violation.
Additionally, Matheus Leist also had a crash in the #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-VR at turn 2, the result of a suspected mechanical failure.
In the other classes, Jordan Taylor put the #3 Corvette C8.R up top for a second consecutive session with a time 01:22:279. Bill Auberlen, who was fastest in the first session in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3, retained the top spot in the second and final practice session by lapping Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in a time of 01:24:806.
One car did not set a lap time: the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA 07-Gibson, the sole LMP2 entrant this weekend, remained in the garage. The team opted to skip the session in order to make changes to the car ahead of Sunday’s qualifying session.
