Ellis Tops Second COTA Practice in Regulator Mercedes-AMG

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Philip Ellis topped the time charts in the No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the second and final GT World Challenge America powered by AWS practice session ahead of qualifying at Circuit of The Americas.

The Mercedes-AMG factory driver reeled off a best lap of 2:04.144 lap time in the Pro-Am class entry to edge out Robby Foley’s No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO by a mere 0.007 seconds.

Connor De Phillippi posted the third quickest time overall, leading the way in the Pro class in his championship-leading No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW, while Jan Heylen made a late session improvement to fourth in his Pro class No. 18 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

It demoted Practice 1 pace-setter Tom Sargent in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche to fifth.

Sargent’s 2:03.430 lap time from the morning held as the quickest of the day.

The No. 8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW of Andy Lee completed the overall top-six in the afternoon session, followed by the pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Gt3.Rs from Chouset Povoledo Racing and DXDT Racing, respectively.

Only one car did not set a time in the session, with the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG undergoing suspension repair in the garage following its incident in opening practice.

The 60-minute session began with a red flag due to an incident for the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Ozz Negri, which returned to action in the closing moments to set the quickest time in the Am class.

Qualifying for the pair of 90-minute races is scheduled to get underway Saturday at 9:20 a.m. CST with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.