Porsche Claims Laguna Seca Pole in Three Classes
GTP, GTD-Pro and GTD class pole positions won by Porsche ahead of Sunday's clash.
Penske Porsche driver Matt Campbell has claimed the GTP and overall pole for Sunday's IMSA Motul Course de Monterey powered by Hyundai N at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. His lap of 1:14.774 clinched a Penske Porsche 1-2 with the No. 6 Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet claiming the second spot on the grid. The pole winning run is the first for the Penske Porsche team, and their first front row lockout as well. The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Colin Braun will start in third, while the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Pipo Derani starts in fourth. The second Acura ARX-06 of Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport qualified in fifth at the hands of Ricky Taylor.
George Kurtz, driving for CrowdStrike Racing by APR, claimed his first career LMP2 class pole with a lap of 1:19.262, edging out the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca driven by Ben Keating by 0.061 seconds. Keating's fastest lap, which would have secured him pole position, was invalidated after Keating exceeded track limits during his run. TDS Racing’s Steven Thomas qualified third in class, only four tenths behind Keating's time.
(Motorsport.com)
The GTD-Pro and GTD class poles were also claimed by Porsches, with Klaus Bachler (GTD Pro) and Alec Udell (GTD) taking the top spots. With their top qualifying runs on Saturday, this is the first time in IMSA history that a single manufacturer has claimed pole position in three separate classes. Not only were the No. 9 Porsche of Bachler and the No. 92 Porsche of Udell fastest in their own classes, but they were the top two fastest cars combined in both GT classes. Third overall in GT and 2nd in GTD was the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Roman De Angelis, who held the top spot for the majority of the GT class qualifying session. Right behind De Angelis was the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Alex Riberas, while the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 of Dani Juncadella qualified fifth in the combined GT standings.
With the competition in both GT classes of IMSA racing so close and tight, it was no surprise that the top thirteen cars in both GTD and GTD-Pro were separated by less than one second.
Catch all the IMSA action from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET) with live coverage on NBC and IMSA radio.
Cover Image: IMSA
