The 2.54-mile Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta basked in the sunshine for Free Practice 2 of the Motul Petit Le Mans weekend. The session kicked off with a fifteen-minute Bronze only segment before opening to the rest of the field for the remaining ninety minutes. With about three minutes remaining in the Bronze session, Daniel Goldburg went off at the exit of Turn 5. There was heavy damage to the front of the #22 United Autosports Oreca when removed from the barrier.
Goldburg finished the Bronze session third quickest. However, his causing of the red flag will result in him losing his fastest lap in Friday’s qualifying. This is crucial as Goldburg is still mathematically alive in the championship and could use every point, entering the weekend 101 points back. Ahead of Goldburg in the session was Jeremy Clarke and PJ Hyett. Clarke lead the P2 Bronze with a lap of 1:12.732.
Brendan Iribe led the Bronze drivers in GTD with a lap of 1:20.825. Iribe is second in the Akin Award standings to Orey Fidani. With double the Akin-eligible entrants this weekend, performance and placement will matter. John Potter in his Magnus Aston Martin was second quickest followed by Ryan Hardwick third in his 1st Phorm Manthey Porsche #912.
Close Quarters
A big topic of discussion this weekend is the lack of space with the size of this field. 54 cars over 2.54 miles means there will be traffic and plenty of it. Opening practice is an example as we witnessed multiple collisions resulting in cars going off. The second practice saw more of the same. The #52 Bryan Herta Autosport/PR1 Mathiasen Oreca was pushed off-track at Turn 10 by Alex Palou in the #93 Meyer Shank Acura.
Inside the final ten minutes of the session, the #11 of Tobi Lutke was forced off-track at Turn 1 by GTP points leader Jack Aitken in the #31 Cadillac. Unlike the other incidents, there was no contact between the two vehicles.
Trouble for the Orange Porsche
The session returned to green for the full field after a ten-minute period for cleanup. The practice was spent mostly in qualifying trim as this session will be closest to conditions the teams will face tomorrow for qualifying. For nearly an hour, the session would remain green with no issues. With twenty-eight minutes remaining, Thomas Preining came to a halt in the Esses in the #911 Manthey Porsche. While the car was not damaged, the vehicle was located in an unsafe position. Therefore, race control called for the red flag.
After a short period, Preining was able to restart the car and crawl back to the pits under his own power. The red flag was displayed for only five minutes before resuming the session. Significantly, the #911 Manthey Porsche will lose their fastest lap in Friday’s qualifying session.
Cumming Goes Wide
With six minutes remaining, Chris Cumming goes through the gravel trap at Turn 6 in the #73 Pratt Miller Motorsports Oreca. While there was minimal damage, the car was beached in the gravel. Race control call for the red to rescue the stricken prototype. The AMR Safety Crew made quick and Cumming drove the car back to the pits.
The work was quick enough to give the field the last two minutes to go out and set a time. However, no one managed to better their time at the end of the session.
Turning Up at the Right Time
Laurin Heinrich shows his speed going fastest turning his 1:10.639 inside the last twenty minutes. Laurens Vanthoor’s 1:10.683 makes it a Penske Porsche 1-2 at the top of the time charts. In Noah’s Ark style, the WRT BMWs finish the session third and forth. The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie rounds out the top-5 in the session. The 11-car GTP field was separated by only one second.
In LMP2, the top bronze times from Jeremy Clarke and PJ Hyett held for the remainder of the session. The #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca finish the session in third as Alex Quinn clocked in with a 1:13.032.
Vasser Sullivan Paces Again & Risi Shows Form
Vasser Sullivan is fastest again in Free Practice 2. Unlike Free Practice 1, the GTD team turned the fastest GT lap. Aaron Telitz did the honor of setting the benchmark 1:18.930. Lorenzo Patrese goes second quickest in the Conquest Racing Ferrari, two tenths behind Telitz. Antonio Fuoco places two Ferraris in the top-3 in GTD with the #21 AF Corse USA Ferrari finishing the session third. Contenders Heart of Racing finish fourth and Turner finish sixth in the session. However, Winward’s troubles continues as they were slowest.
Since we are talking Ferrari, the Risi Ferrari is fastest in GTD PRO. A 1:19.271 courtesy of Daniel Serra would lead the way in the class. Ben Barker finish second for Multimatic Motorsports in the #64. Championship leader Nicky Catsburg is third fastest in the #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette. Behind them is fellow championship contender Paul Miller Racing. Neil Verhagen put a lap of 1:19.448 together, enough for fourth in class. Andrea Calderelli puts the #9 Pfaff Lamborghini in sixth for the session.
Not Done Yet
One final practice remains on a busy Thursday at Road Atlanta. The night practice, considered by many as the most important of the weekend, takes places from 7:30-9pm.
Free Practice 2 Results: CLICK HERE
Headline Photo: The #7 Porsche 963 – Photo Courtesy: Porsche Newsroom
PETIT LE MANS 2026 COVERAGE || PROTOTYPE PREVIEW | GT PREVIEW | PRACTICE 1 | PRACTICE 2 | PRACTICE 3 | THURSDAY NOTEBOOK | QUALIFYING | FRIDAY NOTEBOOK | HOURS 1-2 | HOURS 3-5 | HOURS 6-8 | POST-RACE | SATURDAY NOTEBOOK | CONNOR DE PHILIPPI | WINWARD RACING | PETIT LIVERIES
