Luhr tops opening Mosport practice

Lucas Luhr set the quickest time Saturday in the first official practice for Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport for Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing, but the team will need to repair the Lola-Aston Martin after a late-session crash brought an early end to the session.

Klaus Graf looped the prototype at Turn 9 of the 10-turn circuit and went into the inside tire wall. Graf was reported to be fine but the crew was repairing right-side components including the suspension and rear-wing mount in the paddock. The team expected to return for the second practice and qualifying sessions.

Luhr, an overall winner at Mosport in 2008, set the bar at 1:10.198 (126.106 mph) ,0.784 seconds ahead of Steven Kane in the Oryx Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda that he will share with Humaid Al Masaood. Kane’s quickest lap was a 1:10.982 (124.713 mph).

Joey Hand set the pace in GT for BMW Team RLL. The class championship co-leader turned a lap of 1:18.029 (113.450 mph) in the BMW M3 that he will drive with Dirk Müller. Hand was just 0.092 seconds ahead of Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Jörg Bergmeister. Last year’s class winner – with Patrick Long – set a time of 1:18.121 (113.317 mph) in his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

The top six GT cars were within 0.284 seconds and top 10 within 0.955 seconds.

Local talent Kyle Marcelli was quickest in LMP Challenge for Intersport Racing in the ORECA FLM09 he will drive with Chapman Ducote. The Barrie, Ontario driver’s best lap was a 1:13.750 (120.033 mph), which put him third overall. Marcelli was 0.295 seconds better than CORE autosport’s Gunnar Jeannette, who shares the LMPC championship lead with teammate Ricardo Gonzalez.

Spencer Pumpelly went quickest in GT Challenge for TRG in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup that he is driving with Duncan Ende. Pumpelly’s best time was a 1:23.500 (106.017 mph), good enough for a 0.598-second gap to Black Swan Racing’s Damien Faulkner.

Saturday’s second practice is set for 2:25 p.m. ET and qualifying at 3:35 p.m.