- Walsh, Carrus Callas Raceteam Quickest in TCX
- Ricca Just Ahead of Perocarpi in TC
- Groenke, MINI JCW Team in Pursuit in TCA
- Practice 1 Unofficial Results
The TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School field made their way around the gorgeous grounds of Barber Motorsports Park for their first practice session of the day. Despite the gloomy skies overhead, the competitors lit up the track as they spent every minute gaining experience across the newest stop on the calendar.
Chris Walsh, Jeff Ricca, and PJ Groenke demonstrated exactly why they are the current leaders in their respective TCX, TC, and TCA classes, topping the timesheets in Practice 1.
TCX Class
Chris Walsh has his eyes on the ultimate prize – the TCX class title. As he set off on track in his No. 104 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M2 CS (Cup), he made his intentions clear as he is seeking to wrap up the championship battle this weekend. He set the fastest time of the session with a lap time of XX, making a statement that he remains the one to beat.
However, Celso Neto has been on the rise in his No. 22 Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type S, recently claiming back-to-back wins. He completed Practice 1 in second place, and will be eager to challenge Walsh throughout their time in Alabama.
Cooper Broll occupied third place in his No. 19 Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type S, while Aaron Kaplan and Christopher DeFreitas rounded off the top 5 in their respective No. 18 Kaplan Racing Systems BMW M2 CS (Cup) and No. 39 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura Integra Type S.
TC Class
The margins were slim once again between Jeff Ricca in the No. 78 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC and Cristian Perocarpi in the No. 37 MINI JCW Team MINI JCW TC Pro. The two championship contenders wasted no time getting back into the swing of things as they remained neck and neck throughout the session, with the slight advantage going to Ricca.
Ricca Autosport teammates Ron Zaras and Sally McNulty were also in close proximity, with only 0.059 seconds between their No. 76 and No. 780 Hyundai Elantra N1 TC machines. Meanwhile, Perocarpi’s fellow teammate, Scott Thomson, wrapped up Practice 1 in fifth with his No. 66 MINI JCW Team MINI JCW TC Pro.
TCA Class
PJ Groenke also has the possibility of being crowned champion in the coming days, and reclaimed the top spot in the opening practice session in his No. 62 MINI JCW Team MINI JCW. Alex Garcia will be aiming to snatch away as many of the remaining points that are up for grabs in his No. 14 Skip Barber Racing Honda Civic Si FE1, and will be keeping as close to Groenke as he can.
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, September 6th at 2:30 PM CT.
If you can’t make it to Barber Motorsports Park, 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 #GTBHM.