Smith tops final ALMS warm-up

Guy Smith in his Lola-Mazda

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge continued to be the Guy Smith Show as Friday’s pole-winner also set the fastest time in warm-up for this afternoon’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Smith turned a best lap of 1:16.122 (106.786 mph) in the final session prior to the fifth round of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr¢n.

Smith, teaming with Chris Dyson in Dyson’s No. 16 Lola-Mazda coupe, was just 0.289 seconds ahead of Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing’s Lucas Luhr. Tony Burgess was third in LMP1 for Autocon Racing in his open-topped Lola-AER at 1:19.351 (102.441 mph).

Dirk Müller was quickest in GT for BMW Team RLL in the same BMW M3 GT that teammate Joey Hand put on the class pole Friday. Muller’s best Saturday lap of 1:21.848 (99.753 mph) was 0.280 seconds better than Patrick Long in Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Johannes van Overbeek was third for Extreme Motorsports with a lap of 1:22.422 (98.624 mph) in his Ferrari F458 Italia.

Intersport Racing’s Jon Field went quickest in LMP Challenge with a lap of 1:19.089 (102.780 mph) at his and the team’s home track. He will drive the No. 37 ORECA FLM09 with son Clint. CORE Autosport’s Frankie Montecalvo was second at 1:21.222 (100.081 mph).

Leh Keen got a measure of revenge in GT Challenge with a lap of 1:26.798 (93.652 mph) in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup that he will drive with Bill Sweedler. Keen, who just missed pole position by 0.012 seconds Friday, went 0.494 seconds quicker than Black Swan Racing’s Jeroen Bleekemolen in the warm-up.

Today’s race begins at 3:30 p.m. ET this afternoon. Live online coverage

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 6 with ESPN2 airing the race starting at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 7. Live video coverage on race day will be available at 3:15 p.m. ET on ESPN3.com in the US, and americanlemans.com for international viewers. Canadian fans may also watch live coverage on Rogers Sportsnet. Worldwide radio coverage will be available on American Le Mans Radio at americanlemans.com.

ESPN2 will air the race starting at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday.