Aitken and Cadillac lead the way again in second Petit Le Mans practice

Practice Report: 28th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans

Lead:
Jack Aitken and the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R dominated Practice 2 at the 28th annual Motul Petit Le Mans, marking a significant performance with the fastest lap of the weekend.

Session Highlights:
In a closely contested 90-minute session, Aitken clocked a time of 1:10.882, overtaking Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, who held a previous best of 1:11.290. Matt Campbell, the GTP championship leader in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, improved late in the session to secure second place with a time of 1:11.175, pushing Albuquerque to fourth.

Incidents:
The session was marred by three red flags:

1. The No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 experienced mechanical issues, preventing Albert Costa from establishing a competitive time.
2. The No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 spun at Turn 10 and collided with Christopher Mies’ No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3.
3. Wyatt Brichacek in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 also spun, echoing an earlier incident from Practice 1.

Class Performances:

• GTP Class:

  1. Jack Aitken (No. 31 Cadillac) – 1:10.882
  2. Matt Campbell (No. 6 Porsche) – 1:11.175
  3. Dries Vanthoor (No. 24 BMW) – 1:11.303
  4. Filipe Albuquerque (No. 10 Cadillac) – 1:11.290
  5. Ross Gunn (No. 23 Aston Martin) – 1:11.356

• LMP2 Class:
  Alex Quinn led with a time of 1:13.074, ahead of Hunter McElrea (1:13.310). Oliver Jarvis, Juan Manuel Correa, and Benjamin Pedersen completed the top five. Noteworthy, Daniel Goldburg recorded the fastest lap among Bronze drivers at 1:13.855.

• GTD and GTD PRO Classes:
  In GTD PRO, Aaron Telitz posted the best time of 1:19.180 in the No. 14 Lexus, followed by Sebastian Priaulx (1:19.200). The overall fastest GT time was set by Lorenzo Patrese in the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari with a 1:19.077.
  In the GTD class, Kenton Koch (No. 023 Triarsi Ferrari) and Riccardo Agostini (No. 021 Triarsi Ferrari) followed Patrese, completing a Ferrari sweep of the top three spots.

Next Steps:
Practice 3 is scheduled to commence tonight at 7:30 PM ET, where teams will look to refine setups ahead of qualifying.

Results Summary:

• GTP Standings:

  1. 31 Cadillac – Aitken
  2. 6 Porsche – Campbell
  3. 24 BMW – Vanthoor
  4. 10 Cadillac – Albuquerque
  5. 23 Aston Martin – Gunn

• LMP2 Standings:

  1. 04 Oreca – Quinn
  2. 13 Oreca – McElrea
  3. 18 Oreca – Jarvis
  4. 2 Oreca – Correa
  5. 52 Oreca – Pedersen

• GTD PRO Standings:

  1. 14 Lexus – Telitz
  2. 64 Mustang – Priaulx
  3. 81 Ferrari – Costa
  4. 4 Corvette – Catsburg
  5. 48 BMW – Harper

• GTD Standings:

  1. 47 Ferrari – Patrese
  2. 023 Ferrari – Koch
  3. 021 Ferrari – Agostini
  4. 96 BMW – Gallagher
  5. 44 Aston Martin – Heylen