Renger van der Zande set the fastest time (1:48.279s) in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R. Trailing the Dutchman by almost half a second at 1:48.758s was Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac. Nick Tandy was third overall in the No. 6 Porsche 963 with a best lap of 1:48.941s.
Leading the LMP2 class was Mikkel Jensen in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, lapping the circuit in 1:51.342s. He was just ahead of ex-F1 driver Paul di Resta in the No. 2 United Autosports entry.
As expected, the GTD field was very competitive. Reigning champion Jack Hawksworth and the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 led both both the Pro and GT drivers at 2:00.202s. He was only 0.094s clear of his competition though, which was Daniel Serra in the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) team.
#14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, Kyle Kirkwood, Mike Conway, #12 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Frankie Montecalvo, Parker Thompson, Aaron Telitz, Ritomo Miyata
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
The third quickest driver and the first among the non-Pro entries was Parker Thompson in the sister Vasser Sullivan Lexus.
It was a challenging session from the get-go for the Proton Porsche team, as its No. 5 car came to a stop on its outlap and forcing a red flag. The sister No. 55 managed to get out on track, but also spent a large amount of time in the garage with mechanical gremlins.
A handful of cars did not set a lap at all during the Thursday’s first of three practices. They were the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 (GTD-Pro), the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA (LMP2), the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 (GTD), and as previously mentioned, the No. 5 Proton Porsche (GTP).
There were other teams that encountered problems, but they were still able to at least set a time. In the closing moments of the session, the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo stopped on track with an issue.
Watch: BrrrakeF1 — The Tech Behind the Most Exciting Racing on the Planet