Wright Scores IPC Pole at Barber

Kris Wright entered this weekend’s IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda race at Barber Motorsports Park looking to move into the series points lead after back-to-back podium finishes to start the season.

He’ll be in a good position to do just that earning the pole for Saturday’s race and stealing it from his closest competition in the series standings for good measure.

Wright turned a lap of 1:20.302 in the No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier JS P3 he will co-drive tomorrow with Yann Clairay, taking the top spot from series points leader Austin McCusker.

The 15-minute session was slowed by a red flag for the No. 44 Ave-Riley AR2 of Gary Gibson, forcing a seven-minute sprint for the pole.

McCusker seemed to be in prime position to give the No. 47 Forty7 Motorsports Norma M30 team its third consecutive pole to start the season before Wright turned in his flyer in the final minute, grabbing the top spot by 0.627 seconds.

“The first round of laps was really slow because nobody had their tires up when the red came out,” said Wright. “The guys told me I had to get the pole back by six or seven tenths, and I was pretty confident because at that point I hadn’t put a good lap in yet because the tires weren’t hot. I just went out, cleaned everything up and drove the car.”

Leo Lamelas will join Wright on the front row also jumping McCusker on the final lap in the No. 7 Charles Wicht Racing Ligier JS P3 he will co-drive with Will Owen tomorrow.

The third of six rounds for IPC, McCusker leads Wright by four points in the LMP3 standings, 64-60, and Lamelas by five points.

Chlumecky Takes MPC Pole

Eurosport Racing picked up its second consecutive pole in the MPC class with Michal Chlumecky driving the No. 31 Elan DP02 to the top spot one race after Jon Brownson did the same at Sebring International Raceway in the team’s No. 34 entry.

Chlumecky lapped the 2.3-mile circuit in 1:23.509 for the pole, besting Daytona pole winner Wyatt Schwab’s No. 18 Performance Tech Motorsports Elan DP02.

“It was certainly an interesting session,” said Chlumecky. “I’m actually quite surprised I was able to make at least one half-decent lap. I got caught into traffic. The car handled great. I just wish I had an opportunity to get a good clean lap in there, a good flyer. Nevertheless, we’re on P1, so I can’t complain about that.”

A total of 26 cars will take the green flag for tomorrow’s race. The entire race can be streamed live on IMSA.com beginning at 5:35 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Qualifying