Fresh off its first win if the season with its Ligier JS P217, Visit Florida Racing kept the momentum going by leading the first practice session ahead of Saturday’s 20th annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Renger Van Der Zande (1m12.650s) edged Jordan Taylor in the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R (+0.033s) and IMSA newcomers Team Penske, whose Helio Castroneves ORECA 07 (+0.041s) was tantalizingly close to being fastest in its maiden outing. Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud spent time in the car during the session; Juan Pablo Montoya – who has done most of the testing – spent the hour on the timing stand.

If the Prototype field was close, GT Le Mans was even closer at the top as Porsche GT Team’s Laurens Vanthoor (1m18.320s) was quickest in his Porsche 911 RSR, but the Corvette Racing duo of Tommy Milner (+0.004s) and Antonio Garcia (+0.066s) chased him home in their C7.Rs.

Only Change Racing’s Jeroen Mul in GT Daytona (1m20.408s) was able to record a decent gap in his Lamborghini Huracan GT3 as Connor De Phillippi’s Audi R8 LMS GT3 (+0.254s) and Andy Lally’s Acura NSX GT3 (+0.306s) ended the outing with work to do.

James French was almost one second clear of Daniel Burkett in the three-car PC class.
Barring a few spins, the opening session was clear of red flags and dramas.

Click here for full results.

UP NEXT: FP2, 3:15 p.m. ET