Ricky Taylor, driving the #3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R, took Pole for Round Nine of the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge SprintX championship after he lapped the 3.247 mile (5.513 km) Circuit of the Americas in 2:05.742, just .021 seconds quicker than Daniel Mancinelli in the #31 TR3 Racing Ferrari F488 GT3 who lines up alongside the Floridian driver on the front row for the second SprintX race of the weekend.
Third quickest in the 15-minute qualifying session was the sister #8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R driven by Michael Cooper.
Taking class pole in the Pro/Am category was the #75 Always Evolving AIM Motorsport Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 in which Frank Montecalvo lapped in 2:06.873 to earn his fourth class pole of the season.
Second quickest in the Pro/Am category was the class winner of the previous ‘Make Up’ Round Four race, James Sofronas in the #14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R after he lapped in 2:07.042.
Sofronas, who trails Michael Schein and Jan Heylen, drivers of the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, by just seven points, had not previously out-qualified the class-leading drivers in 2017. Combined with the pace that he and Mathieu Jaminet showed in the #14 entry in the previous evening’s belated Round Four, the GMG Racing entry must be considered the favourite in the class for the victory in Round Nine.
Qualifying third in the Pro/Am class was Vincent Abril in the #88 Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3.
Class pole in the SprintX GT Am/Am was set by Henrique Cisneros in the #30 MOMO / NGT Motorsports Ferrari F458 GT3 with a 2:09.003.
In other classes, Yuki Harata took pole position in the GT Cup Pro/Am class in the #55 Dream Racing Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo with a 2:12.247, quickest in GT Cup Am/Am was Conrad Grunewald in the #18 R3 Motorsports Ferrari Challenge with a 2:11.345, GTS Pro/Am pole was set by Adam Merzon in the #017 Case-It Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR with a 2:22.789 and in GTS Am/Am by Kris Wilson in the #03 TRG/AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with a 2:18.245.
The lights go out for the one-hour Round Nine of the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge SprintX championship at 16:00 local time.
