Walsh, Iglesias, and Groenke Get Up to Speed at Sebring in TC America Practice 1

Walsh, Iglesias, and Groenke Get Up to Speed at Sebring in TC America Practice 1
  • Chris Walsh, Carrus Callas Raceteam Fastest Overall 
  • Ruben Iglesias Jr., Ricca Autosport Quickest in TC
  • PJ Groenke, MINI JCW Team On Top in TCA
  • Unofficial Results

The TC America Powered by Skip Barber Racing School field took to the track early Friday morning for their first official practice session at Sebring International Raceway. The 30 minute session was cut slightly short due to a red flag, but the competitors used the most of their time on track to get up to speed with the bumpy terrain.

Chris Walsh was the frontrunner of the session in the No. 104 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M2 CS (Cup) with a time of 2:19.049 in the TCX Class. The fastest time in the TC Class was set by Ruben Iglesias Jr. in the No. 77 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC. Meanwhile in TCA, it was PJ Groenke who was at the top of the timesheets in his No. 62 MINI JCW Team MINI JCW with a time of 2:31.574. 

TCX Class

Lucas Catania took the lead early in the session in the No. 17 Rigid Speed BMW M2 CS (Cup) and held the fastest time overall for the opening 10 minutes of the session. Chris Walsh then took over the top of the leaderboard in his No. 104 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M2 CS (Cup) shortly before a brief red flag punctuated the session at the midway point. He set the fastest time of the session with a lap time of 2:19.049, 0.430 seconds ahead of Catania’s time. 

Celso Neto finished the session in third position in his No. 22 Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type S, with Joseph Catania following closely behind in the No. 16 Rigid Speed BMW M2 CS (Cup). Aaron Kaplan was fifth in the No. 18 Kaplan Racing Systems BMW M2 CS (Cup). 

TC Class

Jeff Ricca was back on top of the timesheets quickly, equipped with his No. 78 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC, but was soon challenged by his fellow teammate Ruben Iglesias Jr., driving the No. 77 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC. Iglesias went on to set the fastest time in the class with a lap time of 2:23.251, just a mere 0.053 separating him from Ricca in second. 

Cristian Perocarpi set the third fastest time in the TC Class in his No. 37 MINI JCW Team MINI JCW TC Pro, with Sally McNulty and Joey Jordan completing the Top 5 in their respective No. 780 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC and No. 71 FTG Racing Mazda 3 entries. 

TCA Class

PJ Groenke set the pace in the TCA Class on board his No. 62 MINI JCW Team MINI JCW with a time of 2:31.574, continuing to show his knowledge and expertise around the circuit. He was followed by Maddy Lemke in the No. 9 Ascent Racing Honda Civic Si FE1. They were accompanied by Alan Grossberg in third, a new entry in the TC America series, in his No. 63 MINI JCW Team MINI JCW. 

Let’s Get Racing

The TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School field will return to the track for Practice 2 on Friday afternoon, May 3rd at 2:30 PM EST. 

If you can’t make it to Sebring, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free live streams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTSebring.