Trinkler Scores GS Pole at Sebring

Owen Trinkler scored his fifth career pole for his 151st career IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge start in an incident-shortened qualifying session for the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring.

Trinkler’s best lap in the No. 46 Team TGM Mercedes-AMG GT4 of 2:10.521 was a mere 0.048 seconds faster than Kuno Wittmer in second place, locking down the top spot for the defending series GS champion.

It was just Trinkler’s second GS class pole and the first ever for the Ted Giovanis-led team.

Behind Wittmer’s Compass Racing McLaren 570S GT4 was Tyler McQuarrie in the No. 39 Carbahn Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT4, with Robby Foley and Tyler Cooke completing the top five for Turner Motorsport and eEuroparts.com ROWE Racing, respectively.

Qualifying was halted when the red flags were displayed towards the end of the session following an incident for Thomas Collingwood in the No. 11 BGB Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.

Collingwood made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 17 and that incident effectively brought the session to an end.

A practice crash by Russell Ward in the third practice session that immediately preceded qualifying prevented the No. 33 Winward Racing / HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 from participating in the session.

Casey Jr. Takes TCR Pole

Britt Casey Jr. put the No. 17 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS3 LMS TCR on pole for Friday’s two-hour race.

The reigning TCR class champion’s pole-winning lap of 2:13.751 was a full 1.214 seconds clear of the N. 84 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic TCR of Brian Henderson in second place.

It is the second consecutive Sebring class pole for Casey, who achieved the feat last year in a Compass Racing-entered Audi.

Mark Wilkins impressed by qualifying third in the No. 98 Hyundai Veloster N TCR for Bryan Herta Autosport, followed by Shelby Blackstock and Michael Johnson for LA Honda World and JDC-Miller Motorsports, respectively.

Alone of the 15 TCR entrants, the No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR of Tim Lewis Jr. and Roy Block did not turn a lap in qualifying.

The Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 is scheduled to start at 12:05 p.m. local time with live streaming coverage on IMSA.TV IMSA Radio. NBC Sports Network’s tape-delayed coverage of the the race will air at 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 28.

RESULTS: Qualifying