TOOELE, Utah -- Jan Heylen, now living in Clearwater, Fla., used his international racing experience to top the opening Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car and Touring Car-B combined practice on Thursday at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Connor Ford, of Carson City, Nev., topped the first ever Touring Car-B session in Pirelli World Challenge competition, driving a Honda Fit B-Spec machine in preparation for this weekend’s Privacy Star Utah Grand Prix Presented by Bondurant.

The weekend will feature a total of three combined races for the Touring Car and Touring Car-B classes.

Heylen topped the 30-minute session on Miller Motorsports Park’s 2.2-mile west course, turning a time of 1:38.926 (80.059 mph) in the No. 43 HPA Motorsports/Brimtek Volkswagen Jetta GLI.

Heylen, making his first Pirelli World Challenge start, was more than a second faster than Michael Cooper, second on the time sheets. The Championship leader turned a lap of 1:40.312 (78.958 mph) in the No. 03 Atlanta Motorsports Group MAZDASPEED3.

Todd Lamb was third quickest during the session, posting a time of 1:40.752 (78.608 mph) in the No. 71 National Karting News/HPD Honda Civic Si. A fourth different car cracked the top-four in the practice session with the No. 97 Don Walker Racing Mazda RX-8 driving by JD Mobley, who turned a time of 1:40.955 (78.450 mph).

Ford’s fast lap of 1:53.597 (69.720 mph) in the No. 93 Honda Racing/HPD Honda Fit led the debut of the Touring Car-B class. Running combined races with Touring Car at three Pirelli World Challenge events this season, the class will run two 30-minute races on Saturday, with a 10-minute break in between, and a 40-minute race on Sunday for the tripleheader weekend.

Second in the Touring Car-B class was the No. 86 CapaldiRacing.com Ford Fiesta driven by Craig Capaldi. Capaldi turned a lap of 1:53.765 (69.617 mph) to fall just short of the benchmark set by Ford.

Road & Track Associate Engineering Editor Shaun Bailey was third in the practice with a time of 1:55.417 (68.620 mph) in the No. 0 MAZDASPEED/Road & Track MAZDA2. Like the Touring Car class, four different makes composed the top of the Touring Car-B practice. Running fourth was Michael Literas in a time of 1:55.657 (68.487 mph) in the No. 92 Xtreme Indoor Karting/Gunther Kia Rio.

The Pirelli World Challenge GT and GTS drivers take to Miller Motorsports Park’s Outer Course for their first official practice on Friday morning at 8:50 a.m. (MDT). The Touring Car and Touring Car-B machines qualify on the West Course at 5:20 p.m. (MDT) on Friday afternoon.

More information is available at www.world-challenge.com. Follow Pirelli World Challenge on Twitter @WCRacing.

RESULTS

TOOELE, Utah - Results from Thursday’s Pirelli World Challenge Championships Touring Car and Touring Car-B practice in preparation for this weekend’s Privacy Star Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park, with position, class, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.

1, TC, (43), Jan Heylen, Clearwater, Fla., Volkswagen GLI, 1:38.926, 80.059.
2, TC, (03), Michael Cooper(R), Syosset, N.Y., Mazda 3, 1:40.312, 78.953.
3, TC, (71), Todd Lamb(R), Atlanta, Ga., Honda Civic Si, 1:40.752, 78.608.
4, TC, (97), J D Mobley, Castle Rock, Colo., Mazda RX-8, 1:40.955, 78.450.
5, TC, (33), Tristan Herbert, Reston, Va., Volkswagen GLI, 1:41.230, 78.237.
6, TC, (98), Tommy Boileau, Monument, Colo., Mazda RX-8, 1:41.631, 77.929.
7, TC, (72), Ryan Winchester(R), Mason City, Iowa, Honda Civic Si, 1:41.696, 77.879.
8, TC, (67), Shea Holbrook, Groveland, Fla., Honda Civic Si, 1:41.894, 77.727.
9, TC, (69), Gustavo Michelsen(R), Lima Peru, Honda Civic Si, 1:42.698, 77.119.
10, TC, (88), Robb Holland, Denver, Colo., Volkswagen GLI, 1:43.138, 76.790.
11, TC, (70), Karl Thomson, Toronto, Ontario, Honda Civic Si, 1:44.740, 75.615.
12, TCB, (93), Conner Ford, Carson Cithy, Nev., Honda Fit, 1:53.597, 69.720.
13, TCB, (86), Craig Capaldi, Richmond, Mich., Ford Fiesta, 1:53.765, 69.617.
14, TCB, (0), Shaun Bailey, Newport Beach, Calif., Mazda 2, 1:55.417, 68.620.
15, TCB, (92), Michael J Lliteras, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Kia Rio, 1:55.657, 68.478.
16, TCB, (45), Sage Marie, Huntington Beach, Calif., Honda Fit, 1:56.080, 68.228.
17, TCB, (90), Russell Smith, Hamilton, Bermuda, Kia Rio, 1:58.042, 67.094.
18, TC, (80), Patrick Seguin, Clarence Creek, Ontario, Volkswagen GTI, 5:37.286, 23.481.
19, TC, (41), Michael Pettiford, Louisville, Colo., VW Jetta, no time.
20, TCB, (00), Jonathan Start, Caledoina, Mich., Fiat 500, no time.
21, TCB, (09), Branden Miller, Salt Lake City, Utah, Ford Fiesta, no time.