Mazda Captures Pole at Laguna Seca

Nunez/Bamarito pole winning Mazda

Photos LAT for IMSA

It was a long time coming, but Mazda’s persistence in sticking with its Prototype program is finally paying off. For the first time, the Mazda Prototypes qualified first and second, and they did it at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda.

Tristan Nunez laid down a lap of 1:18.143 in the No. 55 car he shares with Jonathan Bomarito, who was fastest in the last practice session. A close second – 0.236 seconds back – was Tom Long, in the No. 70 car he co-drives with Joel Miller.

"I’m at a loss for words," said Mazda driver Nunez. “I think we all are. Our car loves this track, and we just pushed as hard as we could. I’m extremely honored," he said, to get Mazda’s first Prototype pole since October of 2013, in the American Le Mans Series with Dyson Racing.

Mazda tried to be competitive the first two years of the WeatherTech Championship with a diesel engine, foreshadowing the consumer Mazda 6 diesel that was destined to come to America, but never did.

The diesel simply wasn’t a competitive race engine in the Prototype class, though, and at the first of this year, Mazda changed over to a turbocharged four-cylinder gas-powered engine similar to that engine used in the Dyson Racing car in the ALMS. That new engine has helped give Mazda what Nunez called “a competitive package."

Third in Prototypes was Dane Cameron in the No. 31 Whelen Action Express Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype he shares with Eric Curran.

Daniel Serra No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GTE

In GT Le Mans, Ferrari spoiled Ford’s run for its first pole for the Ford GT, with Daniel Serra making a last-minute dash in the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GTE to earn fast time. Serra’s best lap of 1:22.867 edged out Ford GT driver Ryan Briscoe by .079 seconds.

Serra shares his Ferrari with Alessandro Pier Guidi, while Briscoe co-drives with Richard Westbrook. Had it not been for the Ferrari, Ford would have had the top two times in the class, as the No. 66 Ford GT of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand was the third fastest car. Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin, winners of the first two races this year, were fourth in the No. 4 Corvette Racing C7.R.

Prototype Challenge qualifying was an ultra-competitive affair with three cars swapping spots right up until the last lap. Coming out on top was Robert Alon, who shares the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen ORECA/Chevrolet with Tom Kimber Smith, with a best lap of 1:21.146.

Second was the No. 38 Performance Tech car of James French and Kyle Marcell, and third was the No. 8 Starworks car of Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande. The top three cars were less than a half-second apart.

In GT Daytona, it’s no surprise that Alex Riberas qualified the No. 23 Alex Job Racing/Team Seattle Porsche 911 GT3 R on the pole, since he and co-driver Mario Farnbacher have consistently led the 17-car class in practice.

Riberas, who has never raced at the track, turned a fast lap of 1:25.775, which was 0.722 seconds ahead of the best lap from Christina Nielsen, driving the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 she shares with Alessandro Balzan. Third was the No. 73 Park Place/Justice Brothers Porsche 911 GT3 R of Patrick Lindsey and Joerg Bergmeister, despite an off-road excursion for Lindsey during qualifying.

“It’s almost impossible to get a perfect lap here, and my lap wasn’t perfect," Riberas said. “But this is one of my favorite tracks now."

The Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda features the Prototype and GT Le Mans classes at 11:15 a.m. PT on Sunday (live, FS1, 2 p.m. ET), followed by the Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona classes at 3:45 p.m. PT (live, FS2, 6:30 p.m. ET).

Results

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