Filipe Albuquerque secured the top position in qualifying for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Sunday. He set a lap time of 1m48.601s, giving the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 the pole position. His teammate, Jordan Taylor, was close behind in the No. 40 car, securing the second spot on the grid. Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acuras will occupy the front row.
Albuquerque expressed his satisfaction with the performance of the car, stating that it felt well-balanced and similar to the ARX-05 DPi. He emphasized the importance of putting together a perfect lap on the long track and the risks involved in doing so.
Renger van der Zande, driving the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, will start on the inside of the second row, alongside Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 5 Proton Competition 963. Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R and Connor de Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 will occupy the third row.
Dane Cameron, in the championship-leading No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963, had a difficult session and ended up with the slowest time among the GTP cars. The No. 24 BMW did not participate in qualifying due to a previous incident.
In the LMP2 class, PJ Hyett secured his fourth consecutive pole in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA. Ben Keating, who had a crash earlier in the day, qualified alongside Hyett on the front row. Hyett expressed his excitement about qualifying on pole at Road America, a track that holds special significance for him.
Nicky Catsburg set a new GTD PRO track record in his first qualifying session at Road America. He took the overall GT pole in the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with his teammate Alexander Sims in the No. 3 car starting alongside him on the front row. Catsburg credited the team’s momentum and setup changes for their strong performance.
Giacomo Altoe in the No. 35 Ferrari and Jack Hawksworth in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 will start on the second row. Mikael Grenier secured the GTD pole in the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3, with Zacharie Robichon alongside him in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.
Photo by Filipe Albuquerque Instagram
