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Daytona 24 Hours: Michael Shank Racing Ligier claims pole

The Michael Shank Racing Ligier LMP2 coupe claimed pole position for this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours in the hands of Oswaldo Negri Jr

The Brazilian took the top spot aboard his Honda-engined Ligier JSP2 with a best lap of 1m39.194s, which put him just over a tenth of a second clear of Scott Dixon's 1m39.302s in the fastest of the two Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford EcoBoost DP.

Negri, who also set pole with MSR at Daytona in 2008, said: "I knew the DPs would get close in the cooler temperature, but I promise you that I took everything that the car had.

"Michael [Shank] was asking me for two tenths or three tenths, and I thought, 'man! I had a few moments at the Bus Stop'."

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Scott Pruett was third fastest in the second Ganassi Riley with a time just seven hundredths behind his team-mate.

Fourth place went to 2014 Daytona winner Action Express Racing, whose lead Coyote-Chevrolet Corvette DP ended up on a 1m39.568s in the hands of Joao Barbosa.

The DeltaWing-Elan/Mazda DWC ended up fifth with Andy Meyrick driving, while Olivier Pla was sixth in Krohn Racing's Ligier-Judd/BMW.

Ricky Taylor, in seventh position aboard the Wayne Taylor Racing Dallara-Chevrolet Corvette DP, was the last car to qualify within a second of the pole.

GAVIN PUTS CORVETTE ON GTLM POLE

GT Le Mans honours went to Oliver Gavin in the best of the Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs ahead of Gianmaria Bruni's AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia.

Team-mate Jan Magnussen towed Gavin around to a 1m43.488s, which put him nearly four tenths clear of Bruni on a 1m43.830s.

Gavin, who had just claimed his first USC pole, said: "I didn't think we had the overall pace to get pole, but everything fell into place with the tyre pressures and temperatures.

"Jan gave me the perfect tow when everything was at its peak."

Pedro Lamy ended up third fastest in the the solo factory Aston Martin Vantage GTE with a time of 1m43.960s.

John Edwards was fourth fastest in the best of the Rahal BMW Z4 GTEs, while Magnussen was fifth despite a tow from Gavin over the second half of the session.

The two factory Porsche 911 RSRs run by CORE Autosport, which had topped times at the pre-event test earlier in the month, ended up only eighth and 10th in the hands of Nick Tandy and Frederic Makowiecki, with Bryan Sellers sandwiched between them in the Falken Tire Porsche.

Johnny Mowlem came out on top in a fierce qualifying battle with Colin Braun to snatch pole for the Prototype Challenge class aboard his BAR1 Motorsports ORECA-Chevrolet FLM09.

His final lap of 1m43.318s eclipsed the CORE Autosport driver's best of 1m42.498s.

James Davison claimed his fifth straight USC pole position in the GT Daytona class aboard the lead Aston Martin V12 Vantage run by The Racers Group.

The Australian did only one flying lap because he was waiting in the pits when the red flag came out, but he was able to eclipse Jeroen Bleekemolen's best in his Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R by less than two tenths of a second.

QUALIFYING TIMES:

Pos Class Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 P Oswaldo Negri Jr. Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Ligier/HPD 1m39.194s -
2 P Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Riley/Ford 1m39.302s 0.108s
3 P Scott Pruett Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Riley/Ford 1m39.309s 0.115s
4 P Joao Barbosa Action Express Racing Corvette/Chevrolet 1m39.568s 0.374s
5 P Andy Meyrick Claro / TracFone DeltaWing Racing DeltaWing/Elan 1m39.625s 0.431s
6 P Olivier Pla Krohn Racing Ligier/Judd 1m39.683s 0.489s
7 P Ricky Taylor Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette/Chevrolet 1m39.888s 0.694s
8 P Rubens Barrichello Starworks Motorsport Riley/BMW 1m40.260s 1.066s
9 P Max Papis Action Express Racing Corvette/Chevrolet 1m40.322s 1.128s
10 P Richard Westbrook visitflorida.com Racing Corvette/Chevrolet 1m40.330s 1.136s
11 P Shane Lewis RG Racing Riley/BMW 1m42.070s 2.876s
12 PC Johnny Mowlem BAR1 Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 1m42.318s 3.124s
13 P Johannes van Overbeek Tequila Patron ESM HPD 1m42.390s 3.196s
14 PC Colin Braun CORE Autosport ORECA/Chevrolet 1m42.498s 3.304s
15 PC Tom Kimber-Smith PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 1m42.829s 3.635s
16 PC Renger van der Zande Starworks Motorsport ORECA/Chevrolet 1m43.322s 4.128s
17 PC Martin Plowman BAR1 Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 1m43.442s 4.248s
18 GTLM Oliver Gavin Corvette Racing Chevrolet 1m43.488s 4.294s
19 PC Stephen Simpson JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 1m43.514s 4.320s
20 P Jonathan Bomarito Speedsource Mazda 1m43.782s 4.588s
21 GTLM Gianmaria Bruni AF Corse Ferrari 1m43.830s 4.636s
22 GTLM Pedro Lamy Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m43.960s 4.766s
23 GTLM John Michael Edwards BMW Team RLL BMW 1m43.966s 4.772s
24 GTLM Jan Magnussen Corvette Racing Chevrolet 1m43.976s 4.782s
25 GTLM Pierre Kaffer Risi Competizione Ferrari 1m43.986s 4.792s
26 PC Chris Cumming RSR Racing ORECA/Chevrolet 1m43.992s 4.798s
27 GTLM Bill Auberlen BMW Team RLL BMW 1m44.024s 4.830s
28 GTLM Nick Tandy Porsche North America Porsche 1m44.082s 4.888s
29 P Jim Pace Riley/BMW 1m44.423s 5.229s
30 GTLM Bryan Sellers Team Falken Tire Porsche 1m44.465s 5.271s
31 PC James French Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 1m44.473s 5.279s
32 GTLM Frederic Makowiecki Porsche North America Porsche 1m44.759s 5.565s
33 GTD James Davison TRG-AMR Aston Martin 1m47.272s 8.078s
34 P Tom Long Speedsource Mazda 1m47.320s 8.126s
35 GTD Jeroen Bleekemolen Riley Motorsports Dodge 1m47.424s 8.230s
36 GTD Christopher Zochling Konrad Motorsport Porsche 1m47.451s 8.257s
37 GTD Jan Heylen Wright Motorsports Porsche 1m47.535s 8.341s
38 GTD Daniel Serra Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 1m47.805s 8.611s
39 GTD Markus Winkelhock Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi 1m47.813s 8.619s
40 GTD Spencer Pumpelly Park Place Motorsports Porsche 1m47.860s 8.666s
41 GTD Andy Lally Magnus Racing Porsche 1m48.099s 8.905s
42 GTD Townsend Bell Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 1m48.117s 8.923s
43 GTD Leh Keen Alex Job Racing Porsche 1m48.200s 9.006s
44 GTD Christopher Haase Paul Miller Racing Audi 1m48.202s 9.008s
45 GTD Matt Griffin AF Corse Ferrari 1m48.614s 9.420s
46 GTD Mario Farnbacher Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche 1m48.683s 9.489s
47 GTD Connor De Phillippi Muehlner Motorsports America Porsche 1m49.035s 9.841s
48 GTD Marc Basseng Muehlner Motorsports America Porsche 1m49.291s 10.097s
49 GTD Kuno Wittmer Riley Motorsports Dodge 1m49.512s 10.318s
50 GTD Markus Palttala Turner Motorsport BMW 1m50.213s 11.019s
51 GTD Damien Faulkner GB Autosport Porsche - -
52 P Ryan Dalziel Tequila Patron ESM HPD - -
53 GTD D.DeBoer, M.Riddle, E.Salazar, K.Wilson, B.Davis TRG-AMR Aston Martin - -


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