The reigning champions were only eighth fastest, the impressive Long Beach pace of the SRT Vipers disappeared and there were three tire manufacturers filling the top three spots in testing today at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Alex Job Racing’s Ferrari squad topped the timesheets today with Townsend Bell at the wheel. The veteran will be a busy man in May. After racing in Monterey this weekend he’ll return to Indianapolis to line-up with Panther Racing for the 500. Bell will compete again this weekend with Bill Sweedler.

“This is our first chance to try some things that I hadn’t been able to try so far,” Bell said.

“The Ferrari is just a fantastic car out of the box, and  it’s the third year of the 458. Development-wise, the guys have a really nice car and it’s a matter of adapting our brake, damper and tire partners to this platform, which we know is a winning one.”

Paul Miller Racing’s Porsche was second fastest in GT followed by Team Falken Tire.

The entire GT pack was covered by only 1.4 seconds.