Cadillac Locks Out GTP Front Row for 12 Hours of Sebring
Words by Matthew Boyce
Cover Image by Jake Galstad/LAT Images
Pipo Dirani, driving the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, has taken the pole for Saturday's IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring. The pole secured a front row lock out for Cadillac, after the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac driven by Sebastien Bourdais qualified in second.
Dirani claimed the pole with a lap of 1:48.152 and will lead the field to the green flag for the second race of the 2024 IMSA season. The qualifying session, which featured a red flag with less than ten minutes to go, changed the grip dramatically. The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 posted the fastest time of the qualifying session, and held the pole heading into the red flag. During the red flag, which was caused by the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet impacting the turn one tire barrier, the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti made an error and worked on the car during the red flag. Working on the car during a red flag period is against IMSA protocol, which cost the No. 10 Acura a potential pole position.
Starting third on Saturday will be the No. 24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Phillipp Eng, while the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche of Phil Hansen secured fourth place on the grid. Rounding out the top five in the GTP class was the No. 5 Proton Compeition Porsche.
Iron Lynx, which is on debut with their brand new Lamborghini SC63, did not set a representative time during the session, along with the No. 25 Team RLL BMW. Both cars will start eighth and ninth respectively in class, ahead of the No. 6 Porsche and the No. 10 Acura.
IMSA
In LMP2, a dragon took the pole in class, with the No. 99 AO Racing Oreca Gibson driven by PJ Hyett posted the quickest time. Known as "Spike," the dragon-liveried Oreca edged out the No. 22 United Autosports entry of Daniel Goldburg posting a quick time of 1:52.142. Ben Keating secured the third position on the grid in the second United Autosports entries with a lap of 1:52.673.
The GTD-Pro class pole was taken by the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth, edging out the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Phillip Ellis. However, after post qualifying inspections took place, it was found that the No. 57 had sensors installed that were not permitted by IMSA. The infraction deleted all times set by the No. 57 Mercedes, and relegates them to the back of the grid for Saturday's race.
Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
This moves the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari driven by Antonio Fuoco to the second spot on the grid, which will be followed by the second Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Parker Thompson. Starting fourth will be the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Mario Farnbacher, while the No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG fourth in the combined GT3 class list.
Coverage for the 2024 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring begins Saturday morning at 9:40am EDT with live coverage on Peacock and IMSA Radio.
