IMSA: Cadillacs qualify 1-2 for 12 Hours of Sebring
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Pipo Derani turned a lap of 1m45.836s to win the pole for the 12 Hours of Sebring in the #31 Whelen Cadillac.
Derani’s lap was just 0.087s faster than Sebastien Bourdais in the #01 Ganassi Cadillac.
Bourdais clocked a swift lap time of 1:45.923 on his fourth of five total laps in the session before a red flag ended the session with three minutes after the No. 7 Porsche 963 went off into the tires on turn 7.
Ricky Taylor qualified 3rd quick in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing/Andretti Acura, 0.264s back.
Mathieu Jaminet put the #6 Penske Porsche 4th on the grid, 0.590s behind while Tom Blomqvist in the #60 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura rounded out the top-5.
Antonio Garcia claimed GTD Pro pole in the #3 Corvette with a best lap of 1:59.315, beating the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth by 0.267 seconds.
Garcia, in the No. 1 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, set a best time of 1:59.315 (112.843 mph) just before a red-flag period ended Friday’s 15-minute qualifying session for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He and teammates Jordan Taylor and Tommy Milner will look to give the Corvette Racing program its 13th victory in the Florida endurance classic and second in a row.
Garcia’s qualifying effort continued a strong pre-race program for Corvette Racing, which posted the fastest GTD PRO times in the final two of Thursday’s three practice sessions around the 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit. Pre-event work – including significant work in Chevrolet’s Driver in the Loop simulator – helped establish an early baseline with the results validating the virtual efforts.
“The car felt really good,”said Garcia. “A good thumbs-up for the team. We were not here for the (IMSA February) test but so far things have been really good through practice. Even warm up just before qualifying felt really, really good so we just went for it and it was enough. Luckily enough I was just across the line before the red flag because I just messed up the previous laps. I’m very happy for Corvette Racing. I’ve had a few pole positions here and I love this race and love this track.”
GTD Pole went to the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports With WTR Andretti Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Kyle Marcelli.
Ben Keating claimed LMP2 pole honors in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca.
Qualifying Results
|
Pos |
PiC |
No. |
Class |
Drivers |
Team |
Car |
Time |
Behind |
|
1 |
1 |
31 |
GTP |
P. Derani / A. Sims / J. Aitken |
Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac |
Cadillac V-Series R |
1:45.836 |
+0.000 |
|
2 |
2 |
01 |
GTP |
S. Bourdais / R. van der Zande S. Dixon |
Cadillac Racing |
Cadillac V-Series R |
1:45.923 |
+0.087 |
|
3 |
3 |
10 |
GTP |
R. Taylor / F. Albuquerque L. Deletraz |
Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 |
Acura ARX-06 |
1:46.100 |
+0.264 |
|
4 |
4 |
6 |
GTP |
N. Tandy / M. Jaminet / D. Cameron |
Porsche Penske Motorsports |
Porsche 963 |
1:46.426 |
+0.590 |
|
5 |
5 |
60 |
GTP |
T. Blomqvist / C. Braun H. Castroneves |
Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian |
Acura ARX-06 |
1:46.603 |
+0.767 |
|
6 |
6 |
24 |
GTP |
P. Eng / A. Farfus / M. Wittmann |
BMW M Team RLL |
BMW M Hybrid V8 |
1:46.756 |
+0.920 |
|
7 |
7 |
7 |
GTP |
M. Campbell / F. Nasr M. Christensen |
Porsche Penske Motorsports |
Porsche 963 |
1:46.851 |
+1.015 |
|
8 |
8 |
25 |
GTP |
C. De Phillippi / N. Yelloly S. van der Linde |
BMW M Team RLL |
BMW M Hybrid V8 |
1:46.908 |
+1.072 |
|
9 |
1 |
52 |
LMP2 |
B. Keating / P. Chatin / A. Quinn |
PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports |
ORECA LMP2 07 |
1:51.780 |
+5.944 |
|
10 |
2 |
35 |
LMP2 |
F. Heriau / G. van der Garde J. Pierson |
TDS Racing |
ORECA LMP2 07 |
1:51.900 |
+6.064 |
|
11 |
3 |
11 |
LMP2 |
S. Thomas / M. Jensen / S. Huffaker |
TDS Racing |
ORECA LMP2 07 |
1:52.169 |
+6.333 |
|
12 |
4 |
04 |
LMP2 |
G. Kurtz / B. Hanley / N. Siegel |
Crowdstrike Racing by APR |
ORECA LMP2 07 |
1:52.486 |
+6.650 |
|
13 |
5 |
20 |
LMP2 |
D. Andersen / E. Jones / A. Fjordbach |
High Class Racing |
ORECA LMP2 07 |
1:53.350 |
+7.514 |
|
14 |
6 |
8 |
LMP2 |
J. Farano / S. McLaughlin / K. Simpson |
Tower Motorsports |
ORECA LMP2 07 |
1:53.579 |
+7.743 |
|
15 |
7 |
51 |
LMP2 |
E. Lux / D. Defrancesco / P. Fittipaldi |
Rick Ware Racing |
ORECA LMP2 07 |
1:53.673 |
+7.837 |
|
16 |
8 |
18 |
LMP2 |
D. Merriman / R. Dalziel C. Rasmussen |
Era Motorsport |
ORECA LMP2 07 |
1:53.963 |
+8.127 |
|
17 |
1 |
36 |
LMP3 |
J. Andretti / G. Chaves / G. van Berlo |
Andretti Autosport |
Ligier JS P320 |
1:55.215 |
+9.379 |
|
18 |
2 |
4 |
LMP3 |
S. Lucas / T. Kasemets / T. Estep |
Ave Motorsports |
Ligier JS P320 |
1:56.874 |
+11.038 |
|
19 |
3 |
85 |
LMP3 |
T. Bechtolsheimer / T. van der Helm D. Goldburg |
JDC Miller MotorSports |
Duqueine D08 |
1:56.984 |
+11.148 |
|
20 |
4 |
74 |
LMP3 |
G. Robinson / F. Fraga / J. Burdon |
Riley |
Ligier JS P320 |
1:57.012 |
+11.176 |
|
21 |
5 |
30 |
LMP3 |
A. Balogh / G. Grist / D. Dickerson |
Jr III Racing |
Ligier JS P320 |
1:58.092 |
+12.256 |
|
22 |
6 |
17 |
LMP3 |
A. Mantella / W. Boyd / N. Varrone |
AWA |
Duqueine D08 |
1:58.164 |
+12.328 |
|
23 |
7 |
38 |
LMP3 |
C. Allen / R. Mau / T. Nunez |
Performance Tech Motorsports |
Ligier JS P320 |
1:58.724 |
+12.888 |
|
24 |
8 |
13 |
LMP3 |
O. Fidani / M. Bell / L. Kern |
AWA |
Duqueine D08 |
1:59.160 |
+13.324 |
|
25 |
1 |
3 |
GTDPRO |
A. Garcia / J. Taylor / T. Milner |
Corvette Racing |
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD |
1:59.315 |
+13.479 |
|
26 |
9 |
33 |
LMP3 |
L. Willsey / J. Barbosa / N. Pino |
Sean Creech Motorsport |
Ligier JS P320 |
1:59.458 |
+13.622 |
|
27 |
2 |
14 |
GTDPRO |
|
Vasser Sullivan |
Lexus RC F GT3 |
1:59.582 |
+13.746 |
|
28 |
3 |
79 |
GTDPRO |
D. Juncadella / J. Gounon / M. Engel |
WeatherTech Racing |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
1:59.635 |
+13.799 |
Note: Position 29 thru 53 formatting of the results from IMSA was so badly formatted it was unusable. Complete incompetence. So Columns are different in remainder of table below.
| POS | PIC | NO. | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | BEHIND |
| 29 | 1 | 93 | Kyle Marcelli | Acura NSX GT3M | 1:59.714 | 13.878 |
| 30 | 2 | 57 | Philip Ellis | Mercedes-AMG GT3M | 1:59.834 | 13.998 |
| 31 | 4 | 23 | Alex Riberas | Aston Martin Vantage GT3M | 1:59.925 | 14.089 |
| 32 | 5 | 62 | Daniel Serra | Ferrari 296 GT3M | 1:59.939 | 14.103 |
| 33 | 3 | 12 | Aaron Telitz | Lexus RC F GT3M | 1:59.944 | 14.108 |
| 34 | 4 | 16 | Jan Heylen | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M | 2:00.022 | 14.186 |
| 35 | 5 | 023 | Alessio Rovera | Ferrari 296 GT3M | 2:00.124 | 14.288 |
| 36 | 6 | 1 | Madison Snow | BMW M4 GT3M | 2:00.229 | 14.393 |
| 37 | 7 | 96 | Patrick Gallagher | BMW M4 GT3M | 2:00.504 | 14.668 |
| 38 | 8 | 78 | Loris Spinelli | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2M | 2:00.639 | 14.803 |
| 39 | 6 | 63 | Franck Perera | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2M | 2:00.763 | 14.927 |
| 40 | 9 | 70 | Brendan Iribe | McLaren 720S GT3 EVOM | 2:01.395 | 15.559 |
| 41 | 10 | 47 | Giorgio Sernagiotto | Ferrari 296 GT3M | 2:01.451 | 15.615 |
| 42 | 11 | 21 | Simon Mann | Ferrari 296 GT3M | 2:01.588 | 15.752 |
| 43 | 12 | 83 | Michelle Gatting | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2M | 2:01.652 | 15.816 |
| 44 | 13 | 27 | Ian James | Aston Martin Vantage GT3M | 2:01.652 | 15.816 |
| 45 | 14 | 91 | Alan Metni | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M | 2:01.927 | 16.091 |
| 46 | 15 | 44 | John Potter | Aston Martin Vantage GT3M | 2:02.115 | 16.279 |
| 47 | 16 | 77 | Alan Brynjolfsson | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M | 2:02.612 | 16.776 |
| 48 | 17 | 80 | PJ Hyett | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M | 2:02.678 | 16.842 |
| 49 | 18 | 66 | Sheena Monk | Acura NSX GT3M | 2:03.342 | 17.506 |
| 50 | 19 | 92 | David Brule | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M | 2:04.555 | 18.719 |
| 51 | 7 | 9 | Klaus Bachler | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)M | 0.000 | 1:45.836 |
| 52 | 20 | 32 | Mikael Grenier | Mercedes-AMG GT3M | 0.000 | 1:45.836 |
| 53 | 8 | 95 | Bill Auberl | BMW M4 GT3M | 0.000 | 1:45.836 |