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Qualifying report

IMSA Sebring: Derani pips Bourdais as Cadillac locks out front row

Action Express Racing driver Pipo Derani claimed pole for the IMSA SportsCar Championship's Sebring 12 Hours ahead of Sebastien Bourdais's fellow Cadillac as Porsche's Matt Campbell crashed heavily late on.

#31 Action Express Racing, Cadillac DPi, GTP: Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, Jack Aitken

#31 Action Express Racing, Cadillac DPi, GTP: Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, Jack Aitken

Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Three-time Sebring winner Derani secured the first pole of IMSA's GTP era for its hybrid Cadillac V-Series.R by just 0.087s over the similar Chip Ganassi Racing machine driven by 2021 victor Bourdais in a 20-minute session that was cut short by Campbell's off. 

The early benchmark time was set by Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Autosport’s Ricky Taylor with a 1m46.100s lap, putting him half a second clear of fellow Acura ARX-06 runner Tom Blomqvist in the Meyer Shank Racing entry.

When both pitted for fresh rubber, they were split by Derani who then went faster still with a 1m45.836s that put him to the head of the field.

Bourdais then made it a Cadillac 1-2 and before anyone could effectively respond, Campbell buried his #7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 in the Turn 1 tyres wall after brushing the inside wall.

In addition to locking out the front row, both Cadillac entries ran the whole session on just one set of tyres, ensuring they have one more fresh set to use in tomorrow’s race than the Acuras.

Taylor’s effort on his first set ensures he’ll start third alongside Mathieu Jaminet’s #6 Porsche, while Daytona 24 Hours winner Blomqvist will line up fifth.

Augusto Farfus was 0.9s from the top spot in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, 0.15s faster than the sister car of Connor De Phillippi.

BMW again brought up the rear in the GTP class

BMW again brought up the rear in the GTP class

Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images

In LMP2, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports driver Ben Keating made up for missing out on GTE Am class pole for today's 1000 Mile World Endurance Championship round by pipping the two TDS Racing cars to the top spot.

Francois Heriau beat Steven Thomas to second, with George Kurtz of Crowdstrike Racing by APR fourth.

Meanwhile, Andretti Autosport driver Glenn van Berlo destroyed the LMP3 field and took pole by 1.659s over sometime Champ Car racer Tonis Kasemets (Ave Motorsports).

Corvette claims GTD Pro pole

Defending class winner Antonio Garcia snared the top spot in GTD Pro for Corvette Racing in another red-flagged session.

The Spaniard's 1m59.315s was enough to bump Jack Hawksworth in the #14 Lexus RC F back to second, with Daniel Juncadella lining up third in the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG GT3.

Just as the excitement was building, with four minutes to go, the Pfaff Porsche 911 GT3 R spun hard into the tyre wall on the outside of Turn 1. Thankfully its occupant Klaus Bachler was able to emerge unaided, but the repairs needed for the tyre wall meant the session was over.

Meanwhile Kyle Marcelli scored his first ever IMSA pole in the GTD class, lapping his Racers Edge with WTR Acura NSX in 1m59.714s, just 0.12s ahead of Philip Ellis in the Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. The similar Benz of Mikael Grenier (Team Korthoff) was third just ahead of Aaron Telitz in the #12 Lexus.

Reflecting the Balance of Performance revisions since Daytona, Jan Heylen’s Wright Motorsports Porsche was fifth fastest, 0.308s off the class lead, and one-tenth ahead of Alessio Rovera in Triarsi Competizione’s Ferrari 296.

IMSA Sebring Qualifying result:

Cla Num Driver Class Chassis Laps Time Gap
1 31 Brazil Pipo Derani
United Kingdom Alexander Sims
United Kingdom Jack Aitken
GTP Cadillac V-Series.R 6 1'45.836  
2 01 France Sébastien Bourdais
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
New Zealand Scott Dixon
GTP Cadillac V-Series.R 5 1'45.923 0.087
3 10 United States Ricky Taylor
Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
Switzerland Louis Deletraz
GTP Acura ARX-06 7 1'46.100 0.264
4 6 United Kingdom Nick Tandy
France Mathieu Jaminet
United States Dane Cameron
GTP Porsche 963 6 1'46.426 0.590
5 60 United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
United States Colin Braun
Brazil Helio Castroneves
GTP Acura ARX-06 7 1'46.603 0.767
6 24 Austria Philipp Eng
Brazil Augusto Farfus
Germany Marco Wittmann
GTP BMW M Hybrid V8 6 1'46.756 0.920
7 7 Australia Matt Campbell
Brazil Felipe Nasr
Denmark Michael Christensen
GTP Porsche 963 6 1'46.851 1.015
8 25 United States Connor de Phillippi
United Kingdom Nick Yelloly
South Africa Sheldon Van Der Linde
GTP BMW M Hybrid V8 8 1'46.908 1.072
9 52 United States Ben Keating
France Paul-Loup Chatin
Alex Quinn
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 9 1'51.780 5.944
10 35 France François Heriau
Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
United States Josh Pierson
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 8 1'51.900 6.064
11 11 United States Thomas Steven
Denmark Mikkel Jensen
United States Scott Huffaker
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 9 1'52.169 6.333
12 04 United States George Kurtz
United Kingdom Ben Hanley
Nolan Siegel
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 8 1'52.486 6.650
13 20 Denmark Dennis Andersen
United Arab Emirates Ed Jones
Denmark Anders Fjordbach
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 7 1'53.350 7.514
14 8 Canada John Farano
New Zealand Scott McLaughlin
United States Kyffin Simpson
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 8 1'53.579 7.743
15 51 United States Eric Lux
Canada Devlin DeFrancesco
Brazil Pietro Fittipaldi
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 9 1'53.673 7.837
16 18 United States Dwight Merriman
United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel
Christian Rasmussen
LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 8 1'53.963 8.127
17 36 United States Jarett Andretti
Colombia Gabby Chaves
Glenn van
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 7 1'55.215 9.379
18 4 Seth Lucas
Tonis Kasemets
United States Trenton Estep
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 9 1'56.874 11.038
19 85 United States Till Bechtolsheimer
Netherlands Tijmen van der Helm
Daniel Goldburg
LMP3 Duqueine D08 7 1'56.984 11.148
20 74 United States Gar Robinson
Brazil Felipe Fraga
Australia Josh Burdon
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 8 1'57.012 11.176
21 30 United States Ari Balogh
Canada Garett Grist
United States Dakota Dickerson
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 9 1'58.092 12.256
22 17 Canada Anthony Mantella
United Kingdom Wayne Boyd
Nico Varrone
LMP3 Duqueine D08 8 1'58.164 12.328
23 38 Christopher Allen
Robert Mau
United States Tristan Nunez
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 9 1'58.724 12.888
24 13 Canada Orey Fidani
United Kingdom Matthew Bell
Germany Lars Kern
LMP3 Duqueine D08 9 1'59.160 13.324
25 3 Spain Antonio Garcia
United States Jordan Taylor
United States Tommy Milner
GTD PRO Corvette C8.R GTD 6 1'59.315 13.479
26 33 United States Lance Willsey
Portugal Joao Barbosa
Nicolas Pino
LMP3 Ligier JS P320 9 1'59.458 13.622
27 14 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth
United Kingdom Ben Barnicoat
United States Kyle Kirkwood
GTD PRO Lexus RC F GT3 6 1'59.582 13.746
28 79 Spain Daniel Juncadella
France Jules Gounon
Germany Maro Engel
GTD PRO Mercedes AMG GT3 4 1'59.635 13.799
29 93 United States Ashton Harrison
Costa Rica Danny Formal
Canada Kyle Marcelli
GTD Acura NSX GT3 6 1'59.714 13.878
30 57 United States Russell Ward
Switzerland Philip Ellis
Netherlands Indy Dontje
GTD Mercedes AMG GT3 5 1'59.834 13.998
31 23 United Kingdom Ross Gunn
Spain Alex Riberas
United Kingdom David Pittard
GTD PRO Aston Martin Vantage GT3 5 1'59.925 14.089
32 62 Brazil Daniel Serra
Italy Davide Rigon
Brazil Gabriel Casagrande
GTD PRO Ferrari 296 GT3 5 1'59.939 14.103
33 12 United States Frankie Montecalvo
United States Aaron Telitz
Canada Parker Thompson
GTD Lexus RC F GT3 6 1'59.944 14.108
34 16 United States Ryan Hardwick
Belgium Jan Heylen
Canada Zacharie Robichon
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 5 2'00.022 14.186
35 023 Onofrio Triarsi
Charles Scardina
Italy Alessio Rovera
GTD Ferrari 296 GT3 5 2'00.124 14.288
36 1 United States Bryan Sellers
United States Madison Snow
United States Corey Lewis
GTD BMW M4 GT3 5 2'00.229 14.393
37 96 United States Patrick Gallagher
United States Robby Foley
Michael Dinan
GTD BMW M4 GT3 5 2'00.504 14.668
38 78 Canada Mikhail Goikhberg
Italy Loris Spinelli
Chile Benjamin Hites
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 6 2'00.639 14.803
39 63 Frank Perera
South Africa Jordan Lee Pepper
France Romain Grosjean
GTD PRO Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 6 2'00.763 14.927
40 70 United States Brendan Iribe
Switzerland Frederik Schandorff
United Kingdom Ollie Millroy
GTD McLaren 720S GT3 5 2'01.395 15.559
41 47 Italy Roberto Lacorte
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto
Italy Antonio Fuoco
GTD Ferrari 296 GT3 5 2'01.451 15.615
42 21 France Simon Mann
Spain Miguel Molina
Italy Francesco Castellacci
GTD Ferrari 296 GT3 5 2'01.588 15.752
43 83 Switzerland Rahel Frey
Belgium Sarah Bovy
Denmark Michelle Gatting
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 6 2'01.652 15.816
44 27 Canada Roman De Angelis
Denmark Marco Sorensen
United Kingdom Ian James
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 5 2'01.652 15.816
45 91 Alan Metni
Netherlands Kay van Berlo
Australia Jaxon Evans
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 5 2'01.927 16.091
46 44 United States John Potter
United States Andy Lally
United States Spencer Pumpelly
GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 5 2'02.115 16.279
47 77 United States Alan Brynjolfsson
United States Trent Hindman
United States Maxwell Root
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 5 2'02.612 16.776
48 80 PJ Hyett
Seb Priaulx
United States Gunnar Jeannette
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 5 2'02.678 16.842
49 66 Sheena Monk
United Kingdom Katherine Legge
United States Marc Miller
GTD Acura NSX GT3 5 2'03.342 17.506
50 92 United States David Brule
United States Alec Udell
France Julien Andlauer
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 5 2'04.555 18.719
51 9 Austria Klaus Bachler
France Patrick Pilet
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor
GTD PRO Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 3    
52 32 United States Mike Skeen
Canada Mikael Grenier
United States Kenton Koch
GTD Mercedes AMG GT3 5    
53 95 United States Bill Auberlen
Chandler Hull
United States John Edwards
GTD PRO BMW M4 GT3 5    

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