Generac 500 at Road America - Live reporting from the VICI Racing pits

5:00 PM A long time loyal supporter of VICI Racing is Wempe. Established in 1878, Wempe is a family owned company that has been in business for over 125 years. Wempe is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany where Mrs Kim-Eva Wempe took over the reigns from her father, Mr Hellmut Wempe, in 2003. She owns and operates 25 stores worldwide in 6 countries, with global sales of over $300 million. Opened in 1980, the New York Flagship Store – the only Wempe location in the U.S. – is located on Fifth Avenue and 55th Street. The boutique is an elegant European style salon at the base of the Peninsula Hotel. Carrying 18 of the world’s finest watch brands along with its own line of exquisite jewelry, Wempe is known not only for its commitment to quality, but also for exceptional service.

3:40 PM The team is packing away for the day in the pits. At this race our paddock is located only a matter of yards away which makes the to-ing and fro-ing very easy. Roland is discussing the car with Marc who now has his first decent amount of time in the #18 car and can offer his feedback.

3:30 PM "We are in good shape for tomorrow, the team has worked hard over the last couple of days, and we’re where we want to be," says Roland. "We have a good set up for the race and the tires are performing as expected. We have a good aero package and are running optimized levels of downforce. We expect a few incidents on track tomorrow so our strategy will be quite flexible accordingly."

3:25 PM Qualifying is over. Nicky was entrusted with the car for the session and he ran a 2:10.412 and 2:10.593, but with an engine cut out issue he returned to the pits early. With a best lap of 2:10.412 (111.74 mph) the #18 car, to be shared tomorrow by Marc, Nicky and Francesco, will start from 10th place on the grid.

2:00 PM "We have been running the same tire compound here as we used at Mid-Ohio, and it seems to be responding well, particularly so with the track temperature being considerably lower here," says Jason Myers from Kumho. "We’ve been trying to get some laps on the tires but we have been interrupted by a lot of red flags during the practice sessions today and yesterday which have limited running consistent fast laps. It’s a very demanding track, so it will be a good test for the tires. However I’m sure we will be able to run long stints in the race, and we are making further progress."

1:00 PM Across the hood of the #18 car is Hughes Network Systems, LLC, the global leader in providing broadband satellite networks and services for large enterprises, governments, small businesses, and consumers. HughesNet® encompasses all broadband solutions and managed services from Hughes, bridging the best of satellite and terrestrial technologies. Its broadband satellite products are based on global standards approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU standards organizations, including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A and GMR-1. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 1.5 million systems to customers in over 100 countries. Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes maintains sales and support offices worldwide. Hughes is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc.

12:25 PM The #18 car is in the paddock and under the awning. It's been tidied up after the brush with the tire barriers earlier and the crew are busy preparing it for the next practice session which gets underway at 1.50 PM. Qualifying takes place immediately after at 3:00 PM so everyone has a busy few hours ahead.

11:00 AM Francesco is in the pits. The 21-year-old’s cockpit time was hampered as a red flag was waved after 43 mins of the session but he was back out with 15 mins remaining. Several acclimatization laps later, after 54 mins, Francesco had a moment which saw him brush a tire wall and the team wrapped up the session at that point.

10:35 PM Nicky kicked off the 60-minute practice session on the 4.048-mile all-asphalt permanent course posting a 2:12.222 and 2:13.425 before after 12 mins the first red flag was waved. It went green after 22 mins and the 25-year-old Dutchman posted a 2:10.852 after 27 mins, followed by two 2:11-bracket laps and a 2:10.754 (33 mins), which was the best of the session. Not Nicky's pulled in and Francesco is about to blast out of the pits.

10:25 AM While Nicky is out on track, brother Francesco waits to get behind the wheel. It will be his first time at Road America.

10:20 AM Everyone is interested to hear from Marc, here he is talking to ALMS Radio. "I'm pleased to have joined VICI Racing and be here this weekend," says the German. "I have been impressed by the team when I have seen them earlier this year, and it’s great to be working Roland who I have a lot of respect for, and team owner Ron Meixner is very focused on the program, as is everyone. I was disappointed to have the incident yesterday, but I hope we can now focus on the race and turn in a good result."

10:00 AM The first practice session is just getting underway as the temperatures climb. One key member of VICI Racing is Team Coordinator James Lang, who joined the team soon after the Utah race. He's worked with Team Manager Tim Bumps previously and brings an efficient, professional experienced approach, popping up everywhere and actively contributing to the smooth running of the operation. Here he is in discussion with Tim, and Max, the youngest member of the team.

7:45 AM Early start to a busy day. Today will see an hour long late morning practice session (10:00-11:00AM) at Road America which is open to all classes, before a second hour long session takes place mid afternoon (1:50-2:50PM), again open to all classes. A brief ten minute break will follow before the 20 minute qualifying session (3:00-3:20PM) reserved for the GT1 and GT2 competitors takes place.