When I arrived at Laguna Seca on Friday morning at 7:00AM I was surprised how warm it felt. No fog and no jacket required.

The race fans who were lucky enough to watch the Friday sessions were rewarded with exciting action. Medium crowd size was perfect for getting close to the drivers and race cars in the paddock. The event is reasonably priced and there were many young race fans enjoying the sights and sounds.

Dumas/Bernhard Porsche - Turn 8a

American Le Mans

The American Le Mans cars are very fast. The prototype cars run laps 10 seconds quicker than the top MotoGP riders. The quickest GT1 and GT2 cars would run with Stoner and Rossi. With the different classes there is plenty of passing and the variety of engine sounds will satisfy any motorsports fan.

Luhr/Werner Audi R10/TDI - Turn 5

Audi Punts Porsche

Melo/Salo Ferrari (I): Too hot in turn 8.

Melo/Salo Ferrari (II): That's gonna leave a mark.

O'Connell - Magnussen - Turn 8a

Werner/Miller GT2 Porsche 911 RSR

AMLS Qualifying

• P2 Brabham/Sharp - Acura ARX-01B - 1:10.103 - 114.928
• P2 Fernandez/Diaz - Acura ARX-01B - 1:10.202 - 114.766
• P1 Albers/Pirro - Audi R10/TDI - 1:11.264 - 113.460
• P1 Luhr/Werner - Audi R10/TDI - 1:11.825 - 112.173
• GT1 O'Connell/Magnussen - Corvette C6R - 1:19.291 - 101.611
• GT1 Beretta/Miller - Corvette C6R - 1:19.790 - 100.975
• GT2 Werner/Miller - Porsche 911 RSR - 1:22.060 - 98.182
• GT2 Bergmeister/Henzler - Porsche 911 RSR - 1:22.380 - 97.800

IMSA Challenge

The IMSA Challenge cars are Porsche 911's 2006-2008 models. 2006 and 2007 models are in GT3G and 2008 models are GT3P. The track conditions were perfect for the Porsches and the top qualifiers in both classes set new qualifying lap records.

Bob Faieta - Porsche 911 RSR

Tony Rivera - Turn 2

Warren Chang - Gravel Pit Turn 2

Ross Smith - Turn 2

IMSA Challenge Qualifying

• GT3P Bob Faieta - 2008 Porsche 911 - 1:28.513 - 91.024
• GT3G Tony Rivera - 2006 Porsche 911 - 1:28.543 - 90.993
• GT3G Ross Smith - 2006 Porsche 911 - 1:28.961 - 90.566
• GT3P Patrick Kelly - 2008 Porsche 911 - 1:28.974 - 90.552
• GT3P Galen Beiker - 2008 Porsche 911 - 1:29.390 - 90.131

IMSA Lites

There are two classes in the IMSA Lites series. The cars with spec chassis and sealed engines are designed to create a drivers series where costs are not outrageous. L1 cars are Elan DP02 chassis and powered by Mazda 2.3 liter engines. L2 cars are powered by Kawasaki ZX-10R engines. The cars are fast, handle well and look like mini-prototypes. A winning formula for up and coming drivers to showcase their skills on a level playing field at major events.

Jonathan Goring: IMSA Lite driver Jonathan Goring exiting turn 5.

Gary Gibson - Sideways in Turn 2: Gary Gibson sideways in turn 2.

IMSA Lites Qualifying

• L1 Jonathan Goring - 1:21.183 - 99.242
• L1 Matt Downs - 1:21.331 - 99.062
• L1 Lucas Downs - 1:21.640 - 98.687
• L1 Joel Feinberg - 1:22.147 - 98.078
• L1 Jonathan Gore - 1:22.505 - 97.652