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Qualifying report
IMSA Road America

IMSA Road America: Acura sweeps front row, Corvette locks out GTD Pro

Albuquerque beats Jordan Taylor to top spot; Hyett scores fourth LMP2 pole in a row; Corvette sweeps GTD Pro

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque

Acura’s Filipe Albuquerque took pole position for this weekend’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America.

Albuquerque beat his team-mate Jordan Taylor and Cadillac Racing’s Renger van der Zande in the 15-minute GTP qualifying session ahead of Sunday’s 2h40m race around the four-mile track that’s the self-proclaimed ‘America’s National Park of Speed’ and features a 47-car entry.

The premier class GTP hybrids are back in action at Elkhart Lake after taking a break at Mosport last month, where LMP2 was the top category.

Albuquerque set the benchmark at 1m49.559s in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06, as Dane Cameron took a wild trip through the gravel in the points-leading No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 at the Carousel.

Taylor beat the provisional pole time with 1m49.235s in the sister No. 40 Acura, before Albuquerque retook P1 with 1m48.968s, and his pole bid continued with a 1m48.601s that couldn’t be beaten.

Van der Zande entered the conversation by grabbing P2 in the Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac V-Series.R despite being half a second off the pace. But Taylor retook second with 1m48.915s with two minutes to go, still three tenths down on Albuquerque, while van der Zande got within 0.005s of Taylor but stayed third.

Taylor then improved to 1m48.863s on his final effort, 0.262s down on the pole time.

“I could not go faster,” said Albuquerque. “It’s (team-mate) Ricky (Taylor’s) birthday and I promised him a pole.”

Van der Zande will start third, with the rapid Gianmaria Bruni the fastest Porsche driver in Proton’s customer No. 5 963 in fourth, ahead of the Action Express-run Cadillac of Pipo Derani.

Connor De Phillippi’s No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8, which set the pace in practice, will start from the third row in sixth. Nick Tandy was the quickest of the factory Porsches in his No. 6 PPM 963, beating Richard Westbrook’s JDC-Miller MotorSport example and Cameron’s No. 7 car.

BMW’s No. 24 car didn’t take part in qualifying after Jesse Krohn hit the wall at the Kink in FP2 this morning, requiring a serious repair job that included a new hybrid battery and transmission. But as the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team attempted to get the car going, the complex energy storage system refused to comply.

#99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2-Gibson: PJ Hyett, Paul-Loup Chatin

#99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2-Gibson: PJ Hyett, Paul-Loup Chatin

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Hyett scores fourth consecutive pole in LMP2

Overall Mosport winner Nick Boulle set the early pace for Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen, but AO Racing’s PJ Hyett was keen on extending his recent run of poles by pipping his 1m54.516s by 0.024s with a 1m54.492s. Hyett improved to 1m53.818s on his next tour before slamming in 1m53.738s on his last lap.

“To get pole at Road America is such an amazing feeling, my grandfather taught me to drive just 100 miles from here,” said Hyett.

Ben Keating was back out in United Autosports’ No. 2 car after he suffered a brutal crash at the Carousel in FP2 this morning. He grabbed P2 as the clock ticked down with 1m54.110s.

Daniel Goldburg was third quickest in the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca with 1m54.129s. Early pole challenger Boulle worked down to 1m54.303s but slipped to fourth.

Luis Perez Companc was fifth for AF Corse despite an off at Turn 12.

#4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg

#4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Corvette Racing 1-2 in GTD Pro

In GTD Pro, Nicky Catsburg took pole position in the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R with an early lap of 2m02.198s, which was three tenths quicker than Alexander Sims’ first try in the No. 3 sister Pratt Miller Motorsports-run car.

Sims got within 0.194s on his second push lap to ensure the Corvette 1-2.

“It was an awesome lap and the car was really dialled in, super-cool to have a 1-2 again,” said Catsburg.

Giacomo Altoe was an impressive third fastest in Conquest Racing’s Ferrari 296, ahead of Jack Hawksworth – who had set the pace in FP2 but suffered a big wreck in the Pilot Challenge race that preceded qualifying – in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F.

Oddly, Hawksworth stopped just ahead of the pitlane entry on his in-lap.

Mike Rockenfeller was next up in the No. 64 Multimatic Ford Mustang from Oliver Jarvis in Pfaff Motorsports’ McLaren 720S.

Mikael Grenier was fastest in the pro-am GTD class in Korthoff/Preston Motorsports’ Mercedes-AMG, just over a tenth clear of Zach Robichon’s Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.

   
1
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3
   
Cla Drivers # Chassis Laps Time Interval km/h
1 United States R. Taylor Portugal F. Albuquerque Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti 10 Acura ARX-06 7

1'48.601

  134.187
2 United States J. Taylor Switzerland L. Deletraz Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti 40 Acura ARX-06 7

+0.262

1'48.863

0.262 133.864
3 Netherlands R. van der Zande France S. Bourdais Cadillac Racing 01 Cadillac V-Series.R 7

+0.319

1'48.920

0.057 133.794
4 Italy G. Bruni Netherlands B. Viscaal Proton Competition 5 Porsche 963 8

+0.791

1'49.392

0.472 133.216
5 Brazil P. Derani United Kingdom J. Aitken Whelen Cadillac Racing 31 Cadillac V-Series.R 6

+0.807

1'49.408

0.016 133.197
6 United States C. de Phillippi United Kingdom N. Yelloly BMW M Team RLL 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 8

+0.844

1'49.445

0.037 133.152
7 United Kingdom N. Tandy France M. Jaminet Porsche Penske Motorsport 6 Porsche 963 8

+0.864

1'49.465

0.020 133.127
8 Netherlands T. van der Helm United Kingdom R. Westbrook JDC/Miller Motorsports 85 Porsche 963 8

+1.144

1'49.745

0.280 132.788
9 United States D. Cameron Brazil F. Nasr Porsche Penske Motorsport 7 Porsche 963 8

+1.375

1'49.976

0.231 132.509
10 United States P. Hyett France P. Chatin AO Racing 99 ORECA 07 8

+5.137

1'53.738

3.762 128.126
11 United States B. Keating United Kingdom B. Hanley United Autosports USA 2 ORECA 07 8

+5.509

1'54.110

0.372 127.708
12 D. Goldburg United Kingdom P. di Resta United Autosports USA 22 ORECA 07 9

+5.528

1'54.129

0.019 127.687
13 United States N. Boulle France T. Dillmann Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports 52 ORECA 07 8

+5.702

1'54.303

0.174 127.493
14 Argentina L. Perez Companc Denmark N. Nielsen Richard Mille AF Corse 88 ORECA 07 8

+5.716

1'54.317

0.014 127.477
15 United States T. Steven Denmark M. Jensen TDS Racing 11 ORECA 07 9

+6.087

1'54.688

0.371 127.065
16 Denmark D. Andersen
S. Lucas MDK by High Class Racing
20 ORECA 07 9

+6.858

1'55.459

0.771 126.216
17 Portugal J. Barbosa T. Kasemets Sean Creech Motorsport 33 Ligier JS P217 7

+7.061

1'55.662

0.203 125.995
18 United States G. Robinson Brazil F. Fraga Riley 74 ORECA 07 6

+7.721

1'56.322

0.660 125.280
19 Canada J. Farano Ireland C. Eastwood Tower Motorsports 8 ORECA 07 9

+9.454

1'58.055

1.733 123.441
20
G. Kraut
Australia S. Andrews JDC/Miller Motorsports
79 ORECA 07 9

+9.732

1'58.333

0.278 123.151
21
S. Wiltshire
United Kingdom R. Dalziel Era Motorsport
18 ORECA 07 9

+9.935

1'58.536

0.203 122.940
22 United States T. Milner Netherlands N. Catsburg Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 7

+13.597

2'02.198

3.662 119.256
23 Spain A. Garcia United Kingdom A. Sims Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 7

+13.791

2'02.392

0.194 119.067
24 Brazil D. Serra Italy G. Altoè Conquest Racing 35 Ferrari 296 GT3 8

+14.128

2'02.729

0.337 118.740
25 United Kingdom J. Hawksworth United Kingdom B. Barnicoat Vasser Sullivan 14 Lexus RC F GT3 6

+14.311

2'02.912

0.183 118.563
26 United Kingdom H. Tincknell Germany M. Rockenfeller Ford Multimatic Motorsports 64 Ford Mustang GT3 6

+14.312

2'02.913

0.001 118.562
27 Germany M. Kirchhofer United Kingdom O. Jarvis Pfaff Motorsports 9 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 7

+14.422

2'03.023

0.110 118.456
28 United States B. Sellers United States M. Snow Paul Miller Racing 1 BMW M4 GT3 6

+14.762

2'03.363

0.340 118.129
29 United Kingdom R. Gunn Spain A. Riberas Heart Of Racing Team 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo 7

+14.783

2'03.384

0.021 118.109
30 United States J. Hand Germany D. Muller Ford Multimatic Motorsports 65 Ford Mustang GT3 6

+14.842

2'03.443

0.059 118.053
31 Germany L. Heinrich France J. Andlauer AO Racing 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 7

+14.987

2'03.588

0.145 117.914
32 Canada M. Grenier United States K. Koch Korthoff/Preston Motorsports 32 Mercedes AMG GT3 6

+15.033

2'03.634

0.046 117.870
33 Canada R. De Angelis Canada Z. Robichon Heart Of Racing Team 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo 7

+15.163

2'03.764

0.130 117.747
34 O. Triarsi Italy A. Rovera Triarsi Competizione 023 Ferrari 296 GT3 6

+15.240

2'03.841

0.077 117.673
35 United States R. Foley United States P. Gallagher Turner Motorsport 96 BMW M4 GT3 6

+15.380

2'03.981

0.140 117.541
36 United States R. Ward Switzerland P. Ellis Winward Racing 57 Mercedes AMG GT3 8

+15.549

2'04.150

0.169 117.381
37 United Kingdom S. Mitchell Costa Rica D. Formal Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti 45 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 7

+15.675

2'04.276

0.126 117.262
38
G. Levorato
United States C. Lewis Proton Competition
55 Ford Mustang GT3 7

+15.702

2'04.303

0.027 117.236
39
M. Franco
A. Costa Conquest Racing
34 Ferrari 296 GT3 7

+15.703

2'04.304

0.001 117.235
40 United States F. Montecalvo Canada P. Thompson Vasser Sullivan 12 Lexus RC F GT3 6

+15.768

2'04.369

0.065 117.174
41 United States B. Iribe Switzerland F. Schandorff Inception Racing 70 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 8

+15.928

2'04.529

0.160 117.023
42 Canada M. Goikhberg Italy L. Spinelli Forte Racing 78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 8

+16.276

2'04.877

0.348 116.697
43
A. Adelson
E. Skeer Wright Motorsports
120 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 7

+16.593

2'05.194

0.317 116.402
44
S. Monk
United Kingdom S. McAleer Gradient Racing
66 Acura NSX GT3 8

+17.119

2'05.720

0.526 115.915
45
K. Li
Denmark A. Fjordbach MDK Motorsports
86 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 7

+17.908

2'06.509

0.789 115.192
46 Canada O. Fidani United Kingdom M. Bell AWA 13 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD 8

+18.739

2'07.340

0.831 114.440
47 Finland J. Krohn Austria P. Eng BMW M Team RLL 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 0

 

   
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