It was little shock to see a Cadillac on pole for Motul Petit Le Mans, but it surely was neither the Cadillac nor the motive force that almost all anticipated. Sebastien Bourdais had been quickest within the day and evening in observe within the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Sequence.R, however as an alternative it was Jack Aitken claiming his first pole place within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and with a brand new monitor document no much less.
“It’s an actual pleasure when you will have the monitor to your self, just about, after the visitors that we had in observe, and a automotive that’s working properly,” Aitken stated. “The Whelen Cadillac, we simply made just a few adjustments in a single day, nothing main, as a result of we’ve been fast all weekend and didn’t must throw the kitchen sink at it in quali. It was a whole lot of enjoyable. I’m glad I stored on the black stuff and to have my first pole.”
Aitken pushed the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Sequence.R to a time of 1m9.639s across the 2.54-mile 12-turn Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta, a median of 131.31mph. That was 0.07s higher than the endurance addition within the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, Matt Campbell, may handle. Campbell acquired the nomination to qualify the championship-leading automotive, and achieved with aplomb given the tempo the Porsche had proven to date.
Connor De Phillippi certified the No. 25 BMW M Group RLL M Hybrid V8 on the within of the second row with a 1m9.929s lap, with Bourdais beginning alongside. The third row would be the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 (Filipe Albuquerque) and the No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 (Phil Hanson).
The session started with a number of groups scrubbing tires for the race. As soon as they began placing in quick laps, Bourdais was the primary driver within the 69s vary, however was shortly supplanted by Aitken. Then each Campbell and De Phillippi went quicker. Each Campbell and Bourdais had been nonetheless circulating when Aitken pulled in, low on gas, and all he may do was sit and wait.
“I wasn’t massively assured. I parked it as a result of we had been out of gas, so there was no selection in that matter,” he stated. “We decide to that plan earlier than the session begins. And it’s simpler to exit with everybody else within the majority of the sector and keep in sync, somewhat than exit later and be warming your tires whereas everybody else is attempting to run sizzling. So yeah, I parked up. I’d not talked a lot to the pit wall in the course of the session, so I didn’t actually know what the scenario was, after which they stated you’re in P1 in the mean time, we’ll see the way it goes. It was only a case of ready, and it was fairly a nervous couple of minutes, however fairly good to take a seat in pit lane and see it tick over and nonetheless be on pole.”
All 11 GTP entries certified underneath the previous GTP document, which was set by Bourdais in final 12 months’s race. Qualifying on that event passed off on a moist monitor, maintaining speeds down, which contributed to everybody being faster this 12 months.
In an echo of final 12 months’s LMP2 qualifying, Ben Keating claimed pole for United Autosports, driving the No. 2 ORECA to a 1m12.739s (145.75mph) lap to edge Steven Thomas within the No. 11 TDS Racing entry by 0.234s – organising the identical entrance row as final 12 months.
“The automotive was simply very easy to drive,” stated Keating. “Final 12 months, I did it coming to the checkered flag by a hundredth of a second, and I didn’t suppose there was something extra within the automotive. In the present day, to beat that point by 0.3s, I didn’t suppose it was potential. And so actually, actually pleased with the lap and excited to be beginning up entrance, significantly at this monitor on this race, as a result of there’s at all times mayhem in all places, and have a greater likelihood of staying out of it if I’m up entrance.”
Keating famous that since he, Ben Hanley and Nico Pino haven’t any championship to combat for, a race win is the one factor on his thoughts.
PJ Hyett put the No. 99 on the within of the second row of LMP2 with a 1m13.043s. The championship-leading No. 52 ItInterner Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA (1m13.043s) will begin alongside Hyett after Nick Boulle certified the automotive in fourth.
Aitken was solely considered one of three first-time polesitters for tomorrow’s race. Laurin Heinrich solidified his GTD PRO championship bid by taking pole for AO Racing. With Ross Gunn qualifying the No. 23 Coronary heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo third, the hole going into the race will increase from 99 to 104 factors in favor of Heinrich.
“Getting that 100-point hole, that mark was actually vital for us,” stated Heinrich. “We knew that Aston Martins, our championship rivals, the 23 automotive, that they’re fairly fast round right here. I knew they’d qualify properly, so I’d simply must be on pole. That will be the answer.”
Heinrich put the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R into the general GTD pole with a 1m17.881s lap, a median velocity of 117.41 and a brand new monitor document for Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta. All however two of the GTD PRO automobiles lapped underneath the previous document, set by Jack Hawksworth in 2022.
Heinrich’s GTD PRO class pole additional padded his championship lead. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Photos
Tommy Milner fell 0.052s in need of taking the highest spot within the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R and can begin on the surface of the entrance row. Gunn begins on the within of the second row after posting a 1m18.041s. Antonio Garcia put the No. 4 Corvette, freshly repaired after vital injury in final evening’s closing observe, alongside Gunn. Frederic Vervisch was the fifth qualifier in GTD PRO within the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3.
Two GTD qualifiers inserted themselves within the quick block of 11 GTD PRO automobiles, led by Scott Andrews for Lone Star Racing along with his first WeatherTech Championship pole. Andrews put the No. 80 Mercedes AMG on the surface of the third row with a brand new monitor document of 1m18.281s, beating Madison Snow’s previous document.
“We’re actually pleased with that pole,” he stated. “Because of Lone Star for giving me the duty to qualify the automotive. It’s at all times enjoyable – I really haven’t certified a automotive for a very long time, so that they clearly gave me a rocket ship. Any kind of outcome this 12 months has been a very long time coming. We’ve had one of many quickest automobiles all 12 months, we simply haven’t been capable of present it within the outcomes. So we’re all actually stoked.
Robby Foley, who by the way was Andrews’ roommate years in the past, was the opposite GTD runner to place his automotive within the thick of the GTD PRO area. The No. 96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 will begin on the surface of the fifth row due to Foley’s 1m18.539s lap.
The subsequent GTD qualifier was 14th general. Philip Ellis pushed the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 to a time of 1m18,751s to steer an extended line of GTDs on the surface of the seventh row. Behind him are Mike Skeen within the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG and Danny Formal within the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2.
A minor collision that introduced out a three-minute interruption in GTD PRO and GTD qualifying because of particles on the monitor harm two groups’ pole place possibilities. Daniel Serra within the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 clipped the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 pushed by Parker Thompson. Other than the minor injury to each automobiles, every misplaced their two quickest laps as a penalty for inflicting a crimson flag.
Serra misplaced a dive airplane on the Ferrari and ended up twenty third general. Thompson not solely certified thirtieth general, but in addition ended the session parked on the pit exit previous Flip 1.
AWA Racing elected not to participate in qualifying so as to protect the No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R and the workforce’s allotment of Michelin Tires to provide Orey Fidani the very best likelihood at profitable the Bob Akin Award.
