The #1 K-PAX Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Jordan Pepper and Andrea Caldarelli taking pole position for Race 1 of the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS was less than a surprise. But the second stage of qualifying saw their unbeaten run at the top broken by the #6 US Racetronics Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Steven Aghakhani and Loris Spinelli, who will start Race 2 from pole position.
The first qualifying session was contested for the teams’ first drivers, meaning that the Pro-Am teams would send their Bronze-rated drivers out first.
And just to make things a little more interesting, a brief shower of rain rolled over Sonoma Raceway just before the start of the segment, making things even more difficult on the undulating road course!
The lack of grip was very little problem for Pepper, however. He was immediately within the 1 minute 51 second range on his first flying lap, then put down an incredible 1’50.158 on this third lap, which was miles clear of the field!
With less than two minutes left in the segment, Pepper was on an even quicker lap, breaking the morale with a blistering time of 1’48.782. The final margin between Pepper and second-ranked Russell Ward in the #33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 was a whopping 3.594 seconds!
Behind the two leading Pro Cup cars, the fastest Pro-Am qualifier was Michael Dinan, qualifying third in the #38 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. Dinan was followed by Steven Aghakhani in the #6 US Racetronics AMG GT3 in fourth, and the #3 K-PAX Lamborghini of Misha Goikhberg in fifth.
Chandler Hull was sixth in the #94 BimmerWorld M4, ahead of Charlie Luck in the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R in seventh, and George Kurtz in the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports AMG GT3 in eighth.
Onofrio Triarsi’s #23 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 was the fastest Am Cup challenger in ninth, followed by the two Acura NSX GT3s of Erin Vogel (#43 RealTime Racing) in tenth, and Ashton Harrison (#93 Racers Edge Motorsports) in 11th.
Jeff Burton (#191 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini) was 12th, Ziad Ghandour (#9 TR3 Racing Lamborghini) 13th, Jean-Claude Saada (#61 AF Corse Ferrari) 14th, and Samantha Tan (#38 ST Racing M4) was 15th.
Jason Harward (#88 Zelus Lamborghini), Justin Wetherill (#13 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari), David Askew (#63 DXDT Racing AMG), and Scott Smithson (#06 DXDT Racing AMG) completed the running order, while Frank Gannett (#12 Ian Lacy Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3) couldn’t get a representative lap in, putting his team 20th on the grid for this afternoon’s Race 1.
After a five-minute interval, the second drivers’ qualifying began, bringing the Pro drivers into the mix. The rain showers had stopped, and the sun began to burst through the clouds while the track was still wet.
Taking the initiative set by his co-driver, Caldarelli went to the top of the board immediately with a 1’50.048. But Mario Farnbacher in the #93 Racers Edge NSX was able to match him with a 1’50.188, setting the fastest second sector while Caldarelli was quickest in sectors one and three.
But with less than three minutes in the session, Loris Spinelli jumped them both, putting his #6 US Racetronics AMG GT3 on provisional pole with a 1’48.853! Caldarelli and Giacomo Altoe (#3 K-PAX Lamborghini) were able to break into the 1’49 range, but it wasn’t enough to jump ahead.
Caldarelli set the fastest second sector on his final attack lap, but a slow third sector left him just a tenth of a second adrift of Spinelli, who got the pole for Race 2 in something of an upset, given the form of the black #1 K-PAX Lamborghini this weekend.
Behind Spinelli and Caldarelli, Altoe finished in third, putting both K-PAX cars in the top three for Sunday’s Race 2. Farnbacher finished in fourth, ahead of reigning Pro-Am Cup champion Jan Heylen (#45 Wright Motorsports Porsche) in fifth.
Philip Ellis (#33 Winward Racing AMG GT3) was sixth, Ryan Dalziel (#13 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari) was seventh, Michael Cooper (#43 RealTime Racing NSX) was eighth, Corey Lewis (#191 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini) ninth, and Dirk Mueller (#63 DXDT Racing AMG GT3) completed the top ten.
Conrad Grunewald (#61 AF Corse Ferrari) was fastest of the Am Cup cars in 11th. Behind him were Michele Beretta (#9 TR3 Racing Lamborghini, Bill Auberlen (#94 BimmerWorld M4), Robby Foley (#96 Turner Motorsports M4), and Bryan Sellers (#08 DXDT Racing AMG GT3) down to 15th.
Colin Braun (#04 CrowdStrike/Riley AMG GT3) was a surprise down in 16th, ahead of Madison Snow (#88 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini) 17th, Nick Wittmer (#38 ST Racing M4) 18th, Charlie Scardina (#23 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari) 19th, and Drew Staveley (#12 Ian Lacy Racing Vantage) 20th.
Images © Brian Cleary / SRO
