By Tarek Ramchani
The Audi teams had a mixed Pirelli World Challenge practice session at Long Beach on Friday. None of the six Audi R8 LMS ultra cars made it into the Top 10.
At the end of the 45-minute session, the best ranked Audi driver was Mike Skeen with the #2 R8 LMS from CRP Racing. The 2014 Pirelli World Challenge runner-up was thirteenth fastest with a personal best time of 1:21.169.
GMG Racing team owner James Sofronas was right behind taking position fourteen with his #14 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The 2013 runner-up set a personal best time of 1:21.476.
Both Mike Skeen and James Sofronas are facing world class rivals in the California event. The two Audi drivers competing in the upper GT class will be eager to bounce back in qualifying and in the race. The Audi R8 LMS ultra always performed well in the streets of Long Beach.
The other four Audi drivers are competing in the GTA class. David Welch was twenty-fifth with the #21 Audi from GMG Racing. Brent Holden was twenty-seventh with the #44 R8 LMS ultra from GMG Racing.Drew Regitz was twenty-ninth behind the wheel of the #19 machine from Stephen Cameron Racing. JCR Motorsports team owner Jeff Courtney was thirty-first with his #99 car.
Acura's Peter Cunningham was the quickest overall with the #42 Acura TLX-GT from RealTime Racing. Reining champion Johnny O'Connell was second fastest with the #3 Cadillac ATS-VR GT3 from Cadillac Racing. Series points leader Olivier Beretta was third with #61 Ferrari 458 GT3 from R.Ferri Motorsport.
Long Beach practice session results are here.
Pirelli World Challenge drivers will be back on track on Saturday for qualifying. We wish the best of luck to all Audi teams and drivers.
Photo credit: Pirelli World Challenge
