McAlister Edges Out Uretsky for Laguna Pole

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Sean McAlister claimed pole position for Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for CarBahn with Peregrine Racing.

McAlister, on his final flying lap, reeled off a 1:29.364 in the No. 39 BMW M4 GT4 EVO to edge out the No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4 of Moisey Uretsky by 0.009 seconds.

Dillon Machavern qualified the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW third on the grid, ahead of Luca Mars’ No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport and the No. 54 Panam Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 of Caio Chaves, who completed the top-five.

TCR pole honors went to the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR of Mark Wilkins, thanks to a 1:30.245 lap time.

It was 0.088s seconds quicker than the No. 7 Precision Racing LA Audi RS 3 LMS TCR of Celso Neto, with BHA’s Harry Gottsacker third in the No. 98 Hyundai.

While it marked Wilkins’ first pole of the season, his co-driver Bryson Morris took top qualifying honors in the opening two races at Daytona and Sebring.

Wilkins qualified an impressive 12th overall in the 40-car field.

The WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 gets underway Saturday at 12:45 p.m. PST (3:45 p.m. EST) with live coverage on Peacock as well as IMSA’s YouTube channel, courtesy of Michelin.

RESULTS: Qualifying

John Dagys

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