As he has done in the two practice sessions, Robert Noaker dominated qualifying for the Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational in the #13 Robert Noaker Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse R.
On a drying track, the American racer set a 4:21.958 lap about halfway through the 45-minute session, 1.222s ahead of Cameron McLeod in the #92, before a red flag ended qualifying with 17 minutes to go.
Noaker, the 2024 Mustang Challenge champion and the only winner in the IMSA series so far this season, has been quickest in every session, although the gap to the other drivers has decreased.
There were two very unique things this time around compared to the rest of the season so far,” Noaker said. “The first one was the time, it’s three times as long as what we’re used to. And the second thing was the weather conditions before the sessions started.
“We’re sitting in the garages and not quite sure if it’s going to be wet or dry. When it was dry out, looking at radar, it keeps changing, and one little rain blip comes through and your dry opportunity’s gone. So luckily, once we got out and on Pit Lane, we realized, okay, it’s dry, it’s going to be a definitive answer.
“So, really the next thing was just to be to get out as early as possible and get the lap done as soon as possible, just with the sun coming out and the track temp going to start coming up. So it was going to start slowing down a little bit, but I was able to get it done early on. My teammate, Dan, was able to get Legends pole. So overall for the team, it was definitely a great session.
“As the weekend or weekend goes on, I have a year and a half experience in the car. Some of the other Junior Team members are having their first drives in the car is this weekend. So, there’s a learning curve and I expected them to catch on and start picking up the time. I imagine by the race tomorrow that they’ll be right there.”
McLeod’s 4:23.180s lap held for second with the help of the quickest second-sector time. Sam Paley, like Noaker one of six Ford Performance Junior Team members in the race, was third in the #26 Sam Paley Racing Dark Horse R at 4:23.587. Marco Signoretti, David Wall and Matt Nicoll-Jones were fourth through sixth.
In ninth overall, Dan McKeever was the quickest of the Dark Horse Legends drivers with a 4:25.964 in the #91 to better Alex Bachoura’s 4:26.301. Bachoura was 11th overall, and the two drivers were well clear of the rest of the Legends field, led by Alfonso Diaz in 20th.
American RallyX and Formula Drift champion Tanner Foust led the Dark Horse Stars category in the #1 Dark Horse R in 13th overall, more than a second better than actor and NASCAR racer Frankie Muniz in 16th overall. Chelsea DeNofa was third in the Stars category, two positions behind Muniz.
“Even though it was qualifying, it did feel like racing. It was important to get some sort of clean lap and without the spotters really being able to see around the whole track, it’s hard to find that. But super fun,” Foust said.
“It’s really my first clean session of dry track so I’m so glad that the sun came out and dried everything up. Super impressed with the drivers that do the full series. It’s really competitive. Everybody’s really respectful each other on the track, especially high speed track like this.
“It’s great to have Chris Harris here as the UK top gear and myself from the U.S. Top Gear. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a clean lap, but looking forward to racing him this weekend.”
Nearly 40 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R drivers will take the green flag for Race 1 in the Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational at 11 a.m. local time on Friday.
You can stream it for free on the Ford Performance YouTube channel.
