Acura Meyer Shank Racing will start its final IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race with a front-row lockout in tomorrow’s Motul Petit Le Mans, meanwhile, Cadillac Whelen driver Jack Aitken has virtually clinched the 2026 IMSA GTP championship after outqualifying Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Laurin Heinrich.
On the front row, it’s Tom Blomqvist in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 that captured his second consecutive pole with a blistering lap time of 1:09.703, approaching his own GTP course record around Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta established in 2025. Blomqvist’s only competitor was teammate Nick Yelloly in the #93 Acura ARX-06, who set a 1:09.925, the only other driver under the 1:10s range.
The other major plot point in GTP qualifying was Aitken and Heinrich, who put their destiny in their own hands by qualifying their respective cars. Early on it seemed like Heinrich could take the pole in the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, but he tumbled down the order as the Acuras rose to the top. With five minutes left, Heinrich was down in seventh, but Aitken in the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R was ninth on the leaderboard.
Aitken came in for a fresh set of Michelin tires and went out for another run, and set two more personal best laps – ending on a 1:10.171 – to push him up to fourth on the leaderboard, while Heinrich stayed in seventh with a 1:10.325 as the chequered flag fell.
That equated to a four-point gain for Aitken and the #31 Cadillac Whelen, giving him the necessary 151-point margin that he needed to virtually clinch the GTP title. So long as Aitken and the #31 Whelen Cadillac start the race on Saturday, they will be assured of the 2026 championships, completing a full set for Cadillac and Action Express Racing.
Behind the two Acuras, the #24 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8 of Sheldon van der Linde was third on a 1:10.082.
Laurens Vanthoor and the #6 Penske Porsche qualified fifth with a 1:10.248s, then Louis Delétraz was sixth in the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, between Aitken and Heinrich in fourth and seventh.
The GTP championship may be settled, but the title fights in the other three classes will go on to tomorrow’s ten-hour race.
After leading LMP2 in pole positions during 2025, it took until the last race of the season for reigning champion PJ Hyett to score the #99 AO Racing ORECA 07-Gibson’s first pole of 2026.
Hyett, still in contention to go back-to-back alongside co-driver Dane Cameron, set a 1:12.944 to dethrone Jeremy Clarke from the top spot in class. But despite running off at the turn 10 chicane, Clarke recovered to put the #43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA second on the grid; this helped him and the team gain valuable points on George Kurtz, who ended up in fifth aboard the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR car.
In between them, Misha Goikhberg in the #52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen car was third, followed by title contender Daniel Goldburg in the #22 United Autosports USA car in fourth.
In GTD Pro, Neil Verhagen took a crucial pole position for the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO as it bids for the season championship.
Verhagen put himself on provisional pole with a lap of 1:18.286 early on; after a change of Michelin tires, the American driver improved on his second run, clinching his second pole of the season with a 1:18.194. It helped Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi gain a couple of points on championship leaders Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg; Catsburg qualified third in the #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R.
Between them on the outside of the GT front row was Mattia Drudi in the #68 Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, setting a 1:18.338 to narrowly edge out Catsburg by 0.017 seconds. The outgoing GTD Pro champion Alexander Sims qualified fourth in the #3 Corvette.
Harry King qualified fifth in the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of Thomas Preining in the #911 Manthey Porsche on an all-911 third row. Andrea Caldarelli qualified the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 eighth behind the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari, while the two Ford Racing Mustang GT3 Evos were mired down in 10th and 11th, #64 (Ben Barker) ahead of #65 (Christopher Mies), and the #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 (Jack Hawksworth) qualified 12th.
And Winward Racing gained some valuable points in their bid to win a third consecutive GTD championship, after Philip Ellis put the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO on the pole, the first of the year for the team.
Winward left nothing to chance as it sent its Mercedes-AMG factory driver out for the run: Ellis’ best lap of 1:18.674s put him two tenths ahead of Antonio Fuoco, who qualified the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo on the front row in second with a 1:18.835. Aaron Telitz in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus and Lin Hodenius in the #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG qualified third and fourth.
Robby Foley, second in the standings, will start fifth in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ahead of Zacharie Robichon in the title-contending #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin.
GTD qualifying ended prematurely after Brendon Iribe (#70 Inception Racing Ferrari) collided with Adam Adelson (#120 Wright Motorsports Porsche) down in turn 10; it appeared that the Ferrari did not slow sufficiently to avoid ramming the Porsche from behind. Iribe, one of two drivers vying for the Bob Akin Award, lost his two fastest laps and was dropped from 11th to 16th on the grid for causing the red flag.
The 29th Motul Petit Le Mans from Road Atlanta starts Saturday at 12:10 PM ET (local time), airing in 200 countries around the world live on IMSA.com and the official IMSA YouTube channel, as well as NBC and Peacock in the United States.
Images © Jack Webster / Dailysportscar.com
