TOOELE, Utah – Montreal’s Kuno Wittmer paced the opening practice for this weekend’s SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship Round Three race, part of the Larry H Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels at Miller Motorsports Park. Rookie Jason Saini, of Fort Worth, Texas, and Charles Espenlaub, of Lutz, Fla., completed the top three.
Driving the No. 44 Acura/RealTime Racing/Eibach/Red Line Acura TSX, Wittmer turned a fastest time of 2:05.799 (87.232 mph) on his first lap around the 3.048-mile, 15-turn circuit.
“The car’s pretty good,” Wittmer, the series most recent winner (VIR), said. “The guys have definitely worked hard for the past two weeks to keep the car quick. I think the Mazda will be a force on this weekend, also. They’ve shown already in the first practice to be relatively quick, and my teammates will be right up there with me as well. There’s a second practice this afternoon, let’s see what we can do there. The car is good and strong, handling well and consistent so we’ll see what we can do in qualifying and the race.
”We’re still talking about the battles from VIR, and hopefully this weekend we can be part of not only a two-man battle but a four- or five-man battle and show how great the series is.”
Saini, driving the No. 74 MAZDASPEED/Stoptech/Racinghart MAZDA6, was just 0.117-second behind Wittmer with a 2:05.916 (87.144 mph). Teammate Espenlaub was just at tick off Saini in his No. 73 MAZDASPEED/Stoptech/Racinghart MAZDA6 with a lap of 2:05.993 (87.172 mph).
Chip Herr (No. 97 Tindol Motorsports MAZDA6) and Pierre Kleinubing (No. 43 Acura/RealTime/Eibach/Red Line Acura TSX) completed the top five.
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