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Hand Snags Watkins Glen GTLM Pole

Joey Hand takes GTLM pole for Sahlen’s 6H Glen…

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Joey Hand will start Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on the pole in GT Le Mans, following a frantic qualifying session for the third round of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.

Hand reeled off a 1:42.507 lap late in the 15-minute session, denying an all-BMW front row and giving Ford Chip Ganassi Racing its second consecutive pole at Watkins Glen.

It marked Hand’s third IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole, and second in the No. 66 Ford GT he’ll share with Dirk Mueller tomorrow.

Alexander Sims qualified the No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M6 GTLM in second, three-tenths behind the Ford, with teammate Martin Tomczyk third in the No. 24 BMW.

The No. 67 Ford of Richard Westbrook, who seeks his fourth consecutive class win at The Glen, will roll off from fourth on the grid, with Patrick Pilet completing the top-five in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR.

Andy Lally gave Michael Shank Racing and Acura its first class pole in GT Daytona, in a session that was cut short due to a heavy accident by a Lexus.

Lally took the No. 93 Acura NSX GT3 to a fast lap of 1:46.051, edging out Detroit pole-sitter Lawson Aschenbach in the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS by 0.220 seconds.

Lally and co-driver Katherine Legge gave the car its maiden win last month in the Motor City.

The No. 15 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawskworth will start third in class, despite spinning on a wet patch after setting his quickest lap.

While Hawksworth escaped major damage to his Lexus, teammate Sage Karam wasn’t so lucky, with the open-wheel ace spinning in the same location but slamming into the inside barrier.

The accident brought the session to an early end with two minutes left on the clock.

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen is set for Sunday at 10 a.m. with live coverage on FS1.

RESULTS: Qualfying

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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