Two Years, two different teams, two different engines but one common chassis and one extraordinary driver. Olivier Pla has done it again, a second consecutive Sebring Pole position – 1:51.217 enough to see off the opposition for the #60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda with the mechanically identical Tequila Patron ESM car of Pipo Derani completing the front row, less than two tenths back from the pole man.
(Pic above ©2016, Richard Dole LAT Photo USA)
It backs up the pole scored in 2015 by Pla in the Judd V8 powered Ligier of Krohn Racing.
Best of the DPs was the #31 Corvette DP of Dane Cameron, seven tenths off pole with the sister Action Express car completing row two with Christian Fittipaldi o qually duty, the Vettes ahead of a third row composed of the #55 Mazda Prototype of Tristan Nunez and the #90 Visit Florida Corvette DP of Ryan Dalziel.
Turbo power dominated in GTLM with a BMW M6 GTLM 1,2.
Bill Auberlen claimed class pole in the #25 Team RLL BMW M6 GTLM his 1:58.402 a couple of tenths clear of the sister #100 car of John Edwards.
Two more turbo-powered cars fill the second row in the class with Daniel Serra in the #68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GTE pinching in a 1:58.637 with Richard Westbrook starting alongside in the #67 Ford GT, this pair ahead of the two factory Corvettes.
Colin Braun continued his masterclass in PC, the #54 CORE autosports man almost a second clear of the Tom Kimber Smith pedalled #52 PR1/ Mathiasen Oreca – 1:54.910 played 1:55.843 – The CORE car though will start from the back of the class grid with the qualifying driver not starting the race.
GTD pole went to the debuting #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3, a 2:02.350 from Jeff Segal just enough to see off the challenge from Jeff Segal in the #33 Viper (2:02.386).
The only other GTD car in the 2:02s was the Jens Klingmann driven #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 who will start on the second row in class alongside the #23 Heart of Motorsport Alex Job Porsche, edging the sister #22 Weathertech backed car into fifth with Change Racing’s #16 Lamborghini rounding out the top 6.
