Lawrence Claims Detroit Pole in Turner BMW

Cameron Lawrence will lead the field to green for Saturday’s fourth round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season, the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic.

This is the first street course race for the series since 2010 and a showcase race for the series with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship off this weekend.

Lawrence lapped the 1.645-mile, nine-turn Detroit Street Course in 1:16.236. He set the flyer on his 10th lap turned. Lawrence will share the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 with Robert Megennis, a street course veteran across multiple series.

Times tumbled in the final three minutes of the 15-minute session as GS class drivers got more heat into their tires and more laps after an early red flag, with the provisional pole time changing hands several times.

Lawrence had nearly a second gap to the field before Eric Filgueiras uncorked a lap within 0.150 seconds. Filgueiras will start second in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport he’ll share with Stevan McAleer.

Rounding out the top five qualifiers were Jenson Altzman (No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing with Aerosport Ford Mustang GT4), Kenny Murillo (No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4) and Rory van der Steur (No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4).

This ensured five different manufacturer brands qualified in the top five positions amidst the backdrop of Motor City and the GM Renaissance Center.

Murillo and Christian Szymczak enter Saturday’s race with a 90-point lead on Robby Foley and Vin Barletta in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4. Barletta qualified 17th in the 22-car field.

Prior to qualifying, Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 cars led both practice sessions.

Daniel Morad (No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG) topped the first session while Scott Andrews (No. 27 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG) ran quicker in the second.

The 100-minute race streams live on Peacock with a start time of 4:10 p.m on Saturday.

RESULTS: Qualifying