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Pipo Derani has won his second pole of the season ahead of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Road America.
Australian Matt Campbell made a late run at the #31 Cadillac’s time of 1:47.730, but his #7 Penske Porsche 963 could get no closer than 0.068s and will start alongside Derani.
Derani and Campbell were the only two drivers to break the 1:48 mark. Seven of the ten GTP class cars were within six-tenths of each other.
“I knew everything had to be nailed for qualifying to start out front,” Derani said. “I was hoping the gap (over Campbell) was bigger than that, but a pole is a pole no matter how big.”
“I’m really happy with that. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac team has done a really fantastic job. It’s been a very good weekend so far, but like I’ve said before, it doesn’t mean anything because it’s a long race.”
Sebastien Bourdais qualified third in the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac with a lap of 1:48.306.
Filipe Albuquerque slotted in fourth with a 1:48.156 in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06.
Connor De Phillippi, with a 1:48.219, rounded out the top five in the #25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8.
Like, Derani, George Kurtz won his second LMP2 pole of the season with a 1:53.621 in the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca 07 Gibson.
Rodrigo Sales rolls off second in the #8 Tower Motorsport Oreca after recording a time of 1:54.129.
Nico Pino, subbing for Lance Willsey, is atop the LMP3 class with a 1:57.930 in the #33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 Nissan.
The GT Pro class flexed its muscle in the production class. Alex Riberas, in the Heart of Racing #23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, recorded a 2:02.918 to hold off Daniel Juncadella in the #77 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo by 0.057 seconds.
The #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD, fastest in Friday’s practice, with Jordan Taylor behind the wheel qualified third with a 2:03.143.
Madison Snow clocked a 2:03.291 and was fastest in the GTD class in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. Snow will start fourth.
The #70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 of Brendan Iribe was second in GTD with a 2:03.382.
Frankie Montecalvo in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of will start third in GTD after recording a 2:03.950.
The IMSA SportsCar Weekend race starts Monday at 0:10 AEST.
