Hong Kong-based team KCMG led the way in Qualifying for the IGTC California 8 Hours at Laguna Seca today. The #18 was the quicker of its two Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s entered in the meeting, ending with the fastest average time across the three short sessions, putting it in prime position to take pole later today in the Top 10 Shootout.
Alexandre Imperatori, Oliver Jarvis and Edoardo Liberati each took turns driving the car and were fast throughout. Imperatori posted a 1:23.307 in Q2 to place the car top for the first time, ahead of Jarvis’ run in Q3.
The Briton then secured the top spot with a 1:23.670 flyer, putting the car 0.038 faster than the #10 WRT Audi R8 LMS which slotted in second by the end. The trio’s average was eventually a 1:23.759.
The #10 R8, with a 1:23.797 average, was the only Audi to make it through to the Top 10 Shootout. The other example entered in the race – the #29 from Land Motorsport – was one of the GT3 entrants unable to make the cut.
Third was HubAuto Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3, which emerged as a front-runner when it was driven rapidly by Nick Foster in Q2. Its combined time was eventually a 1:23.820, remarkably, under a tenth off the KCMG average but not fast enough to finish in the top two.
Walkenhorst’s #34 BMW M6 GT3 finished up fourth ahead of the first Porsche, Park Place’s #911 911 GT3 R, which made it five marques in the top five.
The remaining cars that made it through were the #912 Wright Motorsports Porsche, #999 GruppeM Mercedes, #42 Schnitzer BMW, #35 KCMG Nissan and #30 Honda Team Motul Acura NSX.
Notably, the #911, despite ending up sixth in the times, set the fastest single lap. Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet, who is new to the Monterey-based circuit, reeled off a 1:23.220 in Q3, breaking the previous GT3 circuit lap record.
“I like the track it’s really nice. The car was great. We were tight on timing so I had to put a good lap in, I managed to do that,” Jaminet said.
As well as the #29 Land Motorsport Audi, there were other GT3 runners that have had their grid spot set after failing to crack the top 10. The #44 Strakka Racing Mercedes, #88 GruppeM Mercedes (even after Engel’s stunning 1:23.4 lap in Q3) and both M-Sport Bentleys are among those that will sit out Super Pole.
For M-Sport in particular, it was a rough showing for its two Continental GT3s. The #107, which suffered a water leak and a misfire yesterday was unable to take part in Q2 or Q3 after its issues persisted.
“It’s not the way we wanted to start. It’s a long race luckily.” explained driver Jules Gounon. “We had a water leak on the engine, so we took it out to fix it, but didn’t get a chance to do a shakedown. When we went out we had a misfire again.”
The sister car meanwhile, could only manage 14th, Bentley Motorsport head Brian Gush explaining after the session that the car struggled for raw pace.
“108 struggled for grip throughout the session, and has two new drivers (Lucas Ordonez and Markus Palttala) in it getting used to the car,” he said. “So we’ll play the long game. We’ve got a good race pace so I’m confident in the car over a long distance.”
In the other classes, the PF Racing Ford Mustang set pole in the three-car GT4 class, and by default, the ARC Bratislava Lamborghini topped GT Cup as the category’s only entrant.
The Super Pole session at Laguna Seca is due to start at 15:40 local time later today.
Featured image courtesy of IGTC
