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Petit Le Mans: Richard Westbrook on pole for United Sportscar finale

Prototype championship leader Richard Westbrook took pole position for United Sportscar's Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta

In wet conditions, the SDR Motorsports driver dominated and took top spot for the car he shares with Michael Valiante by a second over reigning USC champions Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa of Action Express, with a time of 1m27.860s.

Joey Hand claimed third for Ganassi Racing while Wayne Taylor Racing's Ricky Taylor could only manage fourth in Prototype, just beating the second Action Express car of Dane Cameron with his final flying lap.

Both Mazda Prototype cars chose not to run in the session due to the wet conditions, likewise Michael Shank Racing did not participate because of John Pew's shunt in first practice.

Porsche team-mates Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber engaged in a session-long battle for GT Le Mans top spot, which culminated in both pole and a crash for the latter.

In the final five minutes, Bamber took provisional pole with a 1m30.304s - fourth fastest overall among the Prototypes - and was able to go two tenths quicker, but this time was erased with four minutes to go after the 911 aquaplaned into the wall at Turn 5.

Though he lost that laptime as a penalty for causing a red flag, his second-quickest lap was still sufficient - if bittersweet as his CORE Autosport team now faces a rebuilding job ahead of the race.

NEWS UPDATE: GTLM Porsches put to back of grid

Tandy - who shares his car with GTLM points leader Patrick Pilet - had initially set the pace as the treacherous conditions played havoc with many in the field.

Bryan Sellers smacked the wall in the Falken Porsche, while Giancarlo Fisichella called off a qualifying effort due to aquaplaning.

Oliver Gavin secured third for Corvette, with BMW's Lucas Luhr in fourth.

In Prototype Challenge, Tom Kimber-Smith took pole for PR1/Mathiasen with a time of 1m32.378s, half a second quicker than Johnny Mowlem in the BAR1 car.

Riley Dodge Viper driver Cameron Lawrence snatched GT Daytona pole position from Spencer Pumpelly's Park Place Porsche with a 1m38.295s.

QUALIFYING RESULTS:

Pos Class Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 P R.Westbrook, M.Valiante, M.Rockenfeller visitflorida.com Racing Corvette/Chevrolet 1m27.860s -
2 P J.Barbosa, C.Fittipaldi, S.Bourdais Action Express Racing Corvette/Chevrolet 1m28.920s 1.060s
3 P J.Hand, S.Pruett, S.Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Riley/Ford 1m29.627s 1.767s
4 GTLM J.Bergmeister, E.Bamber, F.Makowiecki Porsche North America Porsche 1m30.304s 2.444s
5 GTLM N.Tandy, P.Pilet, R.Lietz Porsche North America Porsche 1m30.398s 2.538s
6 P R.Taylor, J.Taylor, M.Angelelli Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette/Chevrolet 1m30.621s 2.761s
7 P E.Curran, D.Cameron, M.Papis Action Express Racing Corvette/Chevrolet 1m30.884s 3.024s
8 GTLM O.Gavin, T.Milner Corvette Racing Chevrolet 1m31.685s 3.825s
9 GTLM J.M.Edwards, L.Luhr, J.Klingmann BMW Team RLL BMW 1m31.763s 3.903s
10 PC M.Guasch, T.K.-Smith, A.Palmer PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 1m32.378s 4.518s
11 PC M.Drumwright, T.Drissi, D.Yount, J.Mowlem BAR1 Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 1m32.924s 5.064s
12 GTLM P.Kaffer, G.Fisichella, T.Vilander Risi Competizione Ferrari 1m32.989s 5.129s
13 GTLM B.Auberlen, D.Werner, A.Farfus BMW Team RLL BMW 1m33.680s 5.820s
14 GTLM J.Magnussen, A.Garcia, R.Briscoe Corvette Racing Chevrolet 1m33.773s 5.913s
15 PC A.Popow, S.Mayer, S.Rayhall, J.Falb Starworks Motorsport ORECA/Chevrolet 1m33.903s 6.043s
16 PC B.Junqueira, C.Cumming, G.Menezes, J.Hawksworth RSR Racing ORECA/Chevrolet 1m35.825s 7.965s
17 PC M.Goikhberg, C.Miller, R.Mitchell JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 1m36.838s 8.978s
18 PC R.van der Zande, M.Hedlund, M.Schultis, A.Popow Starworks Motorsport ORECA/Chevrolet 1m38.120s 10.260s
19 GTD A.Carter, M.Goossens, C.Lawrence Riley Motorsports Dodge 1m38.295s 10.435s
20 GTD P.Lindsey, S.Pumpelly, M.Snow Park Place Motorsports Porsche 1m38.886s 11.026s
21 GTD C.MacNeil, L.Keen, A.Davis Alex Job Racing Porsche 1m38.899s 11.039s
22 P M.Rojas, K.Legge, A.Meyrick Claro / TracFone DeltaWing Racing DeltaWing/Elan 1m39.618s 11.758s
23 GTD G.Cosmo, R.Thorne, C.Thompson Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi 1m41.604s 13.744s
24 GTD B.Keating, S.Bleekemolen, J.Bleekemolen Riley Motorsports Dodge 1m41.698s 13.838s
25 GTD B.Sweedler, T.Bell, J.Segal Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 1m41.750s 13.890s
26 GTD J.Westphal, D.Serra, M.Cressoni Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 1m42.627s 14.767s
27 PC J.Bennett, C.Braun, A.Lazzaro CORE Autosport ORECA/Chevrolet 1m42.775s 14.915s
28 GTD C.Nielsen, K.Wittmer, B.Davis TRG-AMR Aston Martin 1m42.911s 15.051s
29 GTD C.Haase, D.von Moltke, B.Miller Paul Miller Racing Audi 1m43.620s 15.760s
30 GTD I.James, M.Farnbacher, A.Riberas Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche 1m44.320s 16.460s
31 GTD J.Potter, A.Lally, R.Renauer Magnus Racing Porsche 1m47.000s 19.140s
32 GTLM B.Sellers, W.Henzler, P.Long Team Falken Tire Porsche - -
33 P T.Long, J.Miller Speedsource Mazda - -
34 PC J.French, J.Mee, C.Daly Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet - -
35 P J.Pew, O.Negri, M.McMurry Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Ligier/HPD - -
36 P T.Nunez, J.Bomarito, S.Tremblay Mazda Motorsports Mazda - -
37 GTD M.Marsal, M.Palttala, A.Priaulx, B.Johnson Turner Motorsport BMW - -


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