After his father Mike led the morning practice session, Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., topped the evening SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship practice and was quickest on the day in preparation for this weekend’s season opening Round, part of the 56th Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida. Defending Series Champion Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., and Michael McCann, of Canton, Ohio, completed the top three on the day.Driving the No. 10 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra, Brandon Davis turned the fastest time, a 2:10.382 (102.161 mph), around the famed 3.7-mile Sebring International Raceway circuit. Davis moves to the GT Championship after spending the last several seasons in SCCA SPEED Touring Car, where he recorded a win in 2006.”I like this car because it’s just a cool car,” Davis said. “If I was a kid, I’d have pictures of this thing up in my room. I miss being on the big team with my friends, but on the flip side, I get to race with my dad now, which is pretty awesome.”The way that I went out with those sticker tires, I should have been way ahead. The fact that we weren’t that much ahead of some of the other cars, I’m not sure that even if I hit all my marks like on that lap, if it will be good enough for the pole tomorrow.”Pobst, driving a brand-new K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 donning the No. 1 on the side as the reigning Champion, turned his best time in the afternoon session with a 2:10.712 (101.903 mph). McCann also turned his best time of the day in the later session, with a 2:10.852 (101.794 mph) in the No. 16 Remington Shaving/Cadillac Cadillac CTS-V.McCann’s Cadillac teammate Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., was fourth in the No. 8 entry with a 2:10.957 (101.712 mph), just a tick faster than Mike Davis’ morning time of 2:10.958 (101.712 mph) in the No. 11 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra.Jeff Altenburg (Dodge Viper), Michael Galati (Porsche 911 GT3), Eric Curran (Chevrolet Corvette), Ritch Marziale (Dodge Viper) and Jason Daskalos (Dodge Viper) completed the top ten.Qualifying for Friday’s race is scheduled for 11:50 a.m. Thursday morning. To follow all of the action via the SCCA Pit Board with live notes and timing, visit http://www.world-challenge.com.

Canadian Kuno Wittmer’s morning practice time at Sebring held throughout the afternoon session as the fastest practice time of the day for Round One of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship, part of the 56th Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring. Seth Thomas, of Cumming, Ga., and Peter Cunningham, of Grafton, Wis., completed the top three.The 2:21.823 (93.919 mph) entered by Wittmer, of Montreal, Quebec, in the morning session could not be topped in afternoon practice despite the attempts of Wittmer’s RealTime teammates and BimmerWorld’s Thomas and James Clay. Wittmer’s No. 44 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX was the only car able to break the 2:22 mark all day.”The car is really working great,” Wittmer said. “Hats off to RealTime for putting the car together properly. It’s all thanks to them and Acura really. I’m very grateful to be in World Challenge again and with RealTime.”There’s definitely some characteristics I’d like to have from the RSX on the TSX, but the gearbox is sweet and it’s the latest technology from Acura. The TSX definitely responds to the bumps better. The RSX is more twitchy – it’s a two-door versus a four-door. There are some tracks where the RSX will be faster than the TSX as we saw last year, but I think the TSX is the way to go.”Despite topping the second practice session, Thomas was unable to match Wittmer’s morning time and ended the day second-fastest. Driving the No. 38 BimmerWorld BMW 325i, Thomas’ fastest time was still his morning session time, a 2:22.333 (93.583 mph).Cunningham’s morning time, a 2:22.508 (93.468 mph), remained the third quickest time of the day. The No. 42 Acura Certified Pre-Owned Acura TSX pilot was followed on the timing sheets by teammate Pierre Kleinubing in the No. 43 Acura Certified Pre-Owned Acura TSX, who entered a 2:22.546 (93.443 mph).Thomas’ teammate and BimmerWorld owner James Clay, of Blacksburg, Va., was fifth-fastest in morning practice. Clay turned a time of 2:22.885 (93.221 mph) in the No. 36 BimmerWorld BMW 325i.Charles Espenalub (MAZDA6), Chip Herr (MAZDA6), Nick Esyian (BMW 325i), Jason Martinelli (BMW 325Ci) and Michael Galati (MAZDA6) completed the top ten in Sebring practice.Qualifying for Round One of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship is set for 11:25 a.m. (EDT). News, live timing and lap notes are available at http://www.world-challenge.com

Mike Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., surprised the paddock by topping morning practice for the opening round of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship, part of the 56th Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida. Defending Champion Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., was second-fastest, followed by Mike Davis’ son, Brandon Davis, of Denver, Colo.Driving the No. 11 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra, Davis entered a time of 2:10.958 (101.712 mph) around the 17-turn, 3.7-mile road course. In five starts behind the wheel of the Mustang Cobra, Davis’ previous best finish is a 14th at Long Beach and the former Trans-Am driver didn’t expect to see himself at the top of the time sheets this morning in Sebring.”I’m really surprised because everybody in practice was running a second and a half faster than I was,” Davis said. “I was running pretty close to the same times today, but everybody else is running slower, so I’m wondering how that could happen.”While Davis remained modest about how his performance stacks up against the rest of the SPEED GT field, he admitted beating out his own son Brandon was a welcomed way to start the season.”That felt pretty good. He was kind of surprised at that, but I’ve got a lot of time in different cars here. It’s kind of like Denver. We went out in the Saleen and were P1 right off the bat, but then the rest of the field caught us up. “I think it’s [the Ford Mustang Cobra] a good package,” Davis added. “The reliability is where I’m concerned. We think we’ve got the bugs fixed, but we don’t know yet.”Defending SPEED GT Champion Pobst was second-fastest in the session. Driving the No. 1 K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3, Pobst entered a time of 2:11.011 (101.670 mph).The younger Davis, Brandon, turned a 2:11.524 (101.274 mph) in the No. 10 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra to end the session in third.Now entering his second season in SPEED GT, Jason Daskalos, of Albuquerque, N.M., was fourth-quickest in the session. The No. 05 Daskalos Developments & Investments Dodge Viper pilot turned a 2:11.915 (100.974 mph).James Sofronas, of Newport Beach, Calif., completed the top five in his No. 14 Global Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3. Sofronas stopped the clocks with a 2:11.961 (100.939 mph).Tomy Drissi (Chevrolet Corvette), Andy Pilgrim (Cadillac CTS-V), last year’s race winner Eric Curran (Chevrolet Corvette), Brian Kubinski (Chevrolet Corvette) and Tommy Archer (Dodge Viper) completed the top ten.The second SPEED GT practice session of the day will take place at 5:15 p.m. (EDT). Event news, living timing and lap notes are available at http://www.world-challenge.com

Kuno Wittmer, of Montreal, Quebec, topped the time sheets in morning practice for Round One of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship, part of the 56th Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida. Seth Thomas, of Cumming, Ga., was second quick, followed by RealTime Racing owner Peter Cunningham, of Grafton, Wis.Driving an RSX last year, Wittmer has stepped into the No. 44 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX this season and immediately taken to the car. The Canadian turned a 2:21.823 (93.919 mph) around the 17-turn, 3.7-mile road course to lead the first practice session of the 2008 SCCA SPEED Touring Car season. Wittmer was the only driver in the session to break the 2:22 mark.”The car is really working great,” Wittmer said. “Hats off to RealTime for putting the car together properly. It’s all thanks to them and Acura really. I’m very grateful to be in World Challenge again and with RealTime.”There’s definitely some characteristics I’d like to have from the RSX on the TSX, but the gearbox is sweet and it’s the latest technology from Acura. The TSX definitely responds to the bumps better. The RSX is more twitchy – it’s a two-door versus a four-door. There are some tracks where the RSX will be faster than the TSX as we saw last year, but I think the TSX is the way to go.”RealTime Racing cars held the top three spots on the timing screens before the No. 38 BimmerWorld BMW325i of Thomas broke into the second spot with a 2:22.333 (93.583 mph).RealTime team leader Cunningham completed the top three, turning a 2:22.508 (93.468 mph) in his lucky No. 42 Acura Certified Pre-Owned Acura TSX. Teammate and four-time World Challenge Champion Pierre Kleinubing, of Coconut Creek, Fla., ended the session in fourth in his No. 43 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX, with a 2:22.546 (93.443 mph).Thomas’ teammate and BimmerWorld owner James Clay, of Blacksburg, Va., was fifth-fastest in morning practice. Clay entered a time of 2:22.885 (93.221 mph) in the No. 36 BimmerWorld BMW 325i.Charles Espenalub (MAZDA6), Chip Herr (MAZDA6), Nick Esyian (BMW 325i), Jason Martinelli (BMW 325Ci) and Michael Galati (MAZDA6) completed the top ten in Sebring practice.The second SPEED Touring Car practice session at Sebring will take place at 4:50 p.m. (EDT). News, live timing and lap note are available on http://www.world-challenge.com.