First up, it was the GTLM cars. Early on, it looked like the Corvettes were in control, running 1-2 with Mags over Gavin. In fact Mags broke the existing track record with a 1:17.739, but then the BMWs came on track and came on strong.
Local boy Bill Auberlen vaulted to the top and then teammate John Edwards followed suit, giving BMW the front row. For Auberlen, this is special. “I grew up in Redondo Beach, just down the road from here. I’ve been coming to Long Beach for years and it is my home track. I really wanted to get pole here and to lead a BMW 1-2 in the session is great, but I really want to get the win here again.”
John Edwards, “I never like getting beat, even by a team mate, but when it makes it a BMW 1-2 I’m ok with it.”
Ending up third in the session was Fisichella in the Risi Ferrari. But it could have been so much more for the team. In the afternoon 35 minute session, just before qualifying Fisichella had a last lap wall scrape, which messed up what had been a quite pristine Ferrari. This took place just minutes before qualifying was due to start and put the team into scramble mode in order to even make the session. The team hustled about, running back to the paddock for parts to make repairs, checked the car over and then released it with 8 minutes to go in the session in an attempt to get some scrape something together. But Fisichella rewarded their efforts with a much better than expected 3rd in class. Maybe it wasn’t the pole the team had hoped for, but it could have been so much worse.
Fisichella, “Considering what happened ten minutes before the end of the last practice session, the qualifying session was great, especially considering the damage to the bodywork. Thanks to the guys, they did a fantastic job on the spot. The car was not perfect and probably some additional repairs need to be made. It looks promising for tomorrow. Obviously BMW looks pretty quick, but I think we can fight them for the podium. Tomorrow we need to be away from the wall and have a clean race to make it to the end. It’s difficult to overtake here, but I think if we have a good pit stop and good strategy we can fight for the podium.”
The Corvettes ended up 4th and 5th, as they did not improve on their previous times.
Jan, “It was a good lap. This was as fast as we have gone at Long Beach. We improved the car from this last practice to qualifying. It was a good step forward but it wasn’t quite enough in qualifying. We’ll race them tomorrow and see what comes out of that.”
“This is more of a sprint race in every sense of the word. It’s one pit stop and the pit stop probably decides who wins. That’s how it usually goes at Long Beach. You need to be in the fight up front for that first pit stop and then you need to nail that pit stop. After that that’s when the real race starts, right after the only pit stop.”
Bringing up the back of the grid was the Porsche entries, which were further off the pace than expected. That said, the 912 and 911 cars did end up within .9 seconds of Auberlen while Bryan Sellers was not able to get a lap better than 1.4 seconds back.
The top 6 all bettered the existing track record and the class kept the streak together of different drivers taking class pole. This was the 14th race in a row in which this happened, a streak that happens to go back to the first race of the TUDOR series, Daytona 2014.
In the Prototype class, Ricky Taylor was fast early and held off a challenge by Scott Pruett to take the overall pole for Wayne Taylor Racing. Pruett was knocking on the 1:15 flat door, but it was Taylor that kicked it in, eventually settling for a 1:14.790.
Ricky, “This is really nice. Long Beach is a really special event. It’s only our second year here and there’s already a crowd like I’ve never seen before. It’s a really cool atmosphere. Everyone wants to be on pole and win here. Track position is so important. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a pole. We were really quick and I was fastest in the final practice before qualifying by a little bit. I was making excuses for everyone else saying that we were the only ones on new tires. ‘The car felt good but we were on new tires,’ just making excuses. Then the car was even better in qualifying and on low fuel. It just got better and better, which really bodes well for the race. It’s all very good and very positive.”
This was the first pole for WTR since Indy in 2013, breaking a streak of 17 races without a pole position.
For the defending race winning Ganassi Ford Riley effort and Pruett, the result wasn’t satisfying, but it could have been a lot worse. “You’re never happy with second. However, that being said, when we’re just so close to being on pole, it’s a bit nerve-wracking. It’s exciting, being able to fight it out like that in qualifying. Track position does mean a lot at this race. The guys dug in. The car was good right off the trailer. We’re just continuing trying to make it better. (Tomorrow) we’ll just have to keep our nose clean and run hard. You could have a few breaks in traffic. I think the car is really good, so we’ll just fine-tune it tonight and see what we have for tomorrow.”
The top 5 consists of Daytona Prototype cars, while both the Shank Ligier and the Deltawing ended up qualifying behind the GTLM class pole winning BMW. Neither Mazda set a time in qualifying.
As has been the norm lately, no warm up will occur on race day. It will be one giant long day before the IMSA 100 minute race takes place late in the afternoon.
Gary Horrocks
