In a frantic finish, Dries Vanthoor has given BMW M Team RLL pole position for the 63rd annual Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Driving in bitterly cold conditions, Vanthoor snuck up to the top of the timesheets in his #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 with a top time of 1:33.895. It’s the younger Vanthoor brother’s first career IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole position, and the first IMSA pole for the BMW M Hybrid V8 in GTP.
Vanthoor’s triumph counter-balanced the misfortune of the #25 BMW of Sheldon van der Linde, who came to a stop during his out laps and brought out a red flag – preventing him from setting a representative time.
That red flag set up a six-minute scramble for the pole in GTP, which appeared to be going the way of Tom Blomqvist in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06. But on his final lap, Blomqvist was caught out by the #63 Lamborghini SC63 of Mirko Bortolotti, and the two even made contact in the transition to Speedway Turn 1.
One of the Acura MSR cars did consolidate a front row start – but instead of Blomqvist in the #60, it was Nick Yelloly in the #93 Acura, with a 1:34.186, timing in second.
Reigning GTP Champion Felipe Nasr was third-quickest in the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, followed by Jack Aitken, who made it four makes in the top four, in his #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R.
Gianmaria Bruni was a solid fifth in the #85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche, followed by Blomqvist in the #60 MSR Acura.
Bortolotti lost his fastest lap for impeding Blomqvist, but the penalty didn’t impact his result – he still ended up ninth in the #63 Lamborghini, behind the two Wayne Taylor Racing cars – the #40 of Louis Deletraz and the #10 of Filipe Albuquerque.
The #5 Proton Competition Porsche also did not take part in qualifying, rendering IMSA’s decision to rescind its penalty from Practice 1 earlier today redundant.
LMP2 Qualifying at Daytona has long been the domain of Ben Keating, but his streak of five consecutive class pole positions has come to an end at the hands of United Autosports USA’s Daniel Goldburg.
Goldburg, in the #22 ORECA 07, snatched the top time during the final minutes of LMP2 Qualifying with a 1:38.690. Despite the track conditions, he was within two-tenths of the pole time Keating set last year for United Autosports.
Keating will start second in the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA with his best time of 1:39.000, three-tenths behind Goldburg.
PJ Hyett had a time that was quick enough for third place, but with a minute to go, he spun his #99 ‘Spike’ machine at turn two and got stuck in the grass to bring out a red flag in the final seconds. Hyett lost his two fastest laps and was demoted to sixth.
That elevated Nick Boulle to third in the #2 United Autosports car, followed by the returning Chris Cumming in the #73 Pratt Miller Motorsports ORECA in fourth, and Steven Thomas in the #11 TDS Racing ORECA in fifth.
Ford Multimatic Motorsports made a serious statement of intent to kick off the second year of its GTD PRO programme, qualifying 1-2 with Mike Rockenfeller on pole in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3.
Rockenfeller took provisional pole from the sister #65 Ford of Frederic Vervisch with a 1:45.810, then improved to a 1:45.523 to put the top spot out of reach of the rest of the pack. It’s the Mustang GT3’s first GTD PRO pole position, and a front-row lockout with Vervisch in second with a 1:45.855.
Paul Miller Racing’s new recruit, Dan Harper, and the #48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO put together a solid qualifying run to take third on the grid with a 1:46.005.
Alexander Sims was fourth-quickest in the #3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R, ahead of Andrea Caldarelli in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in a strong fifth, with Tommy Milner seventh in the #4 Pratt Miller Corvette.
After a pre-qualifying gearbox change, defending GTD PRO Champion Laurin Heinrich qualified seventh in the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Three different manufacturers were separated by mere milliseconds in GTD qualifying, but Elliott Skeer held off strong challenges from Trent Hindman and Philip Ellis to claim pole position for Wright Motorsports.
Skeer took the provisional pole in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche with a 1:46.825, then retook the top spot away from Hindman with a 1:46.634, for his first career IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole position.
The reigning GT World Challenge America Pro Champion withstood a last-minute flyer from reigning GTD Champion Philip Ellis, who set a 1:46.652 in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Hindman in the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini held onto third with his 1:46.658, as 0.024s separated the top three qualifiers in GTD. Maximilian Götz qualified fourth in the #32 Korthoff Competition Motors Mercedes-AMG, followed by Parker Thompson in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus.
Only one GTD car, the #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari, elected not to qualify.
Images © Jack Webster
