Series Staff
Pilgrim, Cunningham and Lamb Top Practice One at Mazda Raceway
May. 10, 2012 - MONTEREY, Calif. - Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., topped the first of two Pirelli World Challenge practice sessions Thursday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Thursday in preparation for Friday’s Cadillac Sports Car Grand Prix. Peter Cunningham, of Milwaukee, Wis., and Todd Lamb, of Atlanta, Ga., topped the GTS and Touring Car fields, respectively.
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Andy Pilgrim, quickest in practice session one at MRLS (Weber Image) |
Driving the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, Pilgrim turned a fastest lap of 1:26.713 (92.913 mph) halfway through the 30-minute combined GT, GTS and Touring Car session around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit. The lap edged Alex Figge’s No. 9 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60 by just 0.042-second.
James Sofronas finished the session third in his No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3, with a 1:27.137 (92.461 mph), followed by Randy Pobst’s No. 6 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60 (1:27.277) and Dino Crescentini’s No. 4 StopTech Porsche 911 GT3 (1:27.804).
Like Pilgrim, Cunningham jumped to the top of the GTS class charts at the session mid-point, turning a fast lap of 1:32.950 (86.679 mph) in his No. 42 Acura/HPT/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. Teammate Nick Esayian finished second in the No. 34 Acura/HPD/RealTime Racing Acura TSX, turning a 1:33.440 (86.224 mph). Jack Baldwin’s No. 68 Team Hot Wheels/GTSport/PNR Porsche Cayman S was third, with a 1:33.723 (85.964 mph), followed by Andy Lee’s No. 20 Best IT Chevrolet Camaro (1:33.962) and Michael Galait’s No. 36 Kia Motors America Kia Optmia (1:34.293).
Lamb’s No. 71 National Karting News/HPD Honda Civic topped Touring Car with a 1:39.257 (81.171 mph). Michael Cooper’s No. 03 MAZDASPEED Motorsports MAZDASPEED3 was the only other Touring Car to turn a sub-1:40 lap, with a 1:39.687 (80.821 mph). Ryan Winchester (No. 72 Ligon Industries/HPD Honda Civic) was third, with a 1:40.607, followed by the No. 69 TLMUSA.com Honda Civic of Gustavo Michelsen, with a 1:40.650, and the No. 80 Capsparts.com/Theberge Homes Volkswagen GTI of Patrick Seguin, with a 1:41.794.
The series runs a second practice session Thursday at 11:40 a.m. (PDT) prior to its qualifying session at 2:50 p.m. The Cadillac Sports Car Grand Prix makes its standing start at 12:20 p.m. (PDT) Friday afternoon. View the race live at www.world-challengetv.com.
For all series information, please visit www.world-challenge.com. Follow World Challenge on Twitter @WCRacing and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/pirelliworldchallenge/.
