Reece Barr’s debut weekend in the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge may have been brief, but he showed promise in the field of twenty-two cars as he finished the first practice session of the season in fourth place.
Driving the #33 JDX Racing car, the Brit completed a total of sixteen laps with a best lap of 1:17.708, finishing 1.343 seconds off of the pace of Jeff Kingsley who set the fastest time of the session in the Kelly-Moss Road and Race car.
Unfortunately as the session came to an end, so did the race weekend as IndyCar announced the cancellation due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Speaking after the session Barr told The Checkered Flag, “It was kind of expected, due to what was happening everywhere else in the world, but we’ll regroup and see how it develops.”
While the debut for Barr in the US was very brief, the 19-year-old did enjoy his first taste of the series.
“The track was awesome and the pace was good, we got a top 5 first time on the track and it felt like there was so much more out there, I’m so excited now for when the season restarts.”
IMSA series season on hold
It is not yet known when the IMSA series season will resume, organisers released a statement in light of the cancellation of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg which read:
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) received notifications over the last 24 hours of the following changes to its race schedule through the end of April.
The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Mar. 13-15) and the Grand Prix of Alabama (April 3-5) will not take place as previously scheduled. This unfortunate news impacts the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama (GPSP and GPA) and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America (GPA).
IMSA also received public notification late yesterday afternoon from the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach organizers that this year’s event will not take place as previously scheduled from April 17-19.
The event promoter is currently in ongoing conversations with the City of Long Beach, Long Beach Convention Center and the impacted race sanctioning bodies to discuss alternate options and the viability of rescheduling this event at a later time in 2020. If that is not possible, then we look forward to participating in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 16-18, 2021.
IMSA will promptly communicate any updates as further information is made available.
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