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.
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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