It finally got above 50 degrees F late this afternoon. It was fun watching brakes lock up on the first lap, or rear ends squirm with cold tires and little grip. It was surprising how much grip/heat they had after only one lap (or probably less than a full lap).

Tomorrow will be about the same temps. Sunday will be a bit warmer and into the 60’s. No precip predicted.

We didn’t bother going this morning when it was in the 30’s. I was wondering if they delayed things or if they drove anyway despite super cold temps. Great vantage points today as hardly anyone was there. I assume tomorrow will be busier.

Any RL’ers there? Saw several nice Porsches in various places.












Don’t know who they belong to but sure looked nice^

Alonso will need all of his skills — the car looked to be a handful. Definitely lacking grip compared to the fastest cars. Penske cars looked slow everywhere. Hard to determine the real pecking order as most teams sandbag/hotlap at the ROAR. Perhaps Sunday “qualifying” will bring out the true pace.

Three standouts for me: 1) first day pace of the two Porsche GTLMs, 2) outstanding braking performance of the Corvette GTLMs, and 3) amazing variety of pricey alignment equipment in team garages. Random observations — the BMW GTLMs were the biggest sandbaggers (as usual), Porsches were the best sounding cars, and Ford GTs the worst sounding but also the best looking.

Bob L

I like that despite only 22 laps, he finished less than .5 seconds off (one half) of Autosport Driver of the year and perhaps one of the best British talents to come along in awhile, Lando Norris.

Norris has quite a bit more time in the car and, if you look at the lap delta between them from first to second Friday session, not long before Alonso matches and perhaps eclipses him.

Agreed the P2 cars (as opposed to the DPi cars) are at the greatest disadvantage at this flat out, trimmed out track. Kudos to Jeff Braun, Colin Braun and Jon Bennett for sticking that Ligier right up there!

Thanks for the post from trackside!

Session 3 sees Alonso eclipse Norris’ mark from yesterday (by a tenth) and Fords P1/P2 in GT/LM...

There may be more sandbagging in GT classes than the P car’s, based on lap times, but the additional logging capability and forensic analysis now mandated and practiced by IMSA has everyone a lot happier. And almost impossible to sandbag, unless you “tune out” the car (big wicker, tunnel blocks, etc.).

I definitely agree with you on this. When you have driven on a track you have a much better feel for the challenges the drivers are facing.