Scotland's Robin Liddell turned a lap at 1:56.914 (104.692 mph) in the No. 72 NEC Porsche GT3 midway through the evening practice session at Watkins Glen International to top the Grand Touring class speed charts in preparation for Saturday's Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen.

Liddell and co-driver Wolf Henzler currently sit in a tie for third in the current GT driver standings, 17 points behind No. 65 TRG/F1 Air Pontiac GTO.R co-drivers Andy Lally and Marc Bunting (314-297). Henzler is the defending race winner in the GT class, and Liddell--driving with Andrew Davis and team owner Jim Tafel to a fourth-place GT finish in last year's six-hour race--briefly battled with now-teammate Henzler on the 3.37-mile, 11-turn circuit for the lead in the 2005 event.

"Wolf and I had a great battle for the lead last year," said Liddell, who hasn't finished lower than sixth all season with Henzler. "Our car was leading at the two-hour mark, and we were nose-to-tail out there for quite a while. Unfortunately, an incident later in the race left us having to make up ground to finish fourth. Wolf is certainly a great driver, and together, I think we have a pretty good chance here this weekend. This team has worked real hard to put together a good package, both for wet and dry conditions. Tomorrow's race is going to be full of great drivers and great race cars, and I'm looking forward to it."

The 32-year-old Scot lowered his best lap time nearly each time past the start/finish stripe during his stint in the evening session, posting a lap 0.442 seconds better than the next-best time, a 1:57.356 (104.298 mph) by Paul Edwards in the No. 64 TRG/iRise Pontiac GTO.R.

Edwards and co-driver Kelly Collins are only one point behind Liddell and Henzler in the championship chase, and are riding a six-race stretch of top-four class finishes. The run includes victories at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, the Linder Industrial Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway and in the GAINSCO Grand Prix at Phoenix International Raceway two races ago.

"The surface here at Watkins Glen is pretty darn smooth," said Edwards, who teamed with Jan Magnussen to claim the GT class victory in last year's CompUSA 200 at The Glen. "With its long straightaways and smooth ride, it is pretty comparable to Mexico City and VIR. We've had some pretty good success this year, and hopefully tomorrow won't be any different. The team has done a good job preparing this car all year."

Third-fastest on the day was David Murry in the No. 80 Shoes For Crews Porsche GT3 with a lap time of 1:57.475 (104.192 mph) for Synergy Racing. Murry, who finished runner-up to then-teammate Craig Stanton in the 2005 GT championship, has finished inside the class top-eight positions with co-driver Leh Keen in each of the last six races. Spencer Pumpelly was fourth-fastest in the No. 35 Turbo Performance Center Porsche GT3 with a best lap at 1:57.576 (104.103 mph), and points co-leader Andy Lally rounded out the top five in the No. 65 TRG/F1 Air Pontiac GTO.R with a lap at 1:57.752 (103.947 mph).

Original article at  grandamerican.com