Blomqvist Storms to Petit Le Mans Pole for Acura MSR

Tom Blomqvist set a new GTP qualifying lap record at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta en route to pole position for Motul Petit Le Mans.

Blomqvist charged to a best lap of 1:09.628 aboard the No. 60 Acura ARX-06, which was 0.199 seconds quicker than Jack Aitken’s best effort in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.

The British racer set a new qualifying record for GTP cars at Road Atlanta in the process, with the previous record of 1:09.639 notably set by Aitken one year ago.

It was also Acura’s fourth pole from the last five races. Blomqvist notably also initially took pole for the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before being stripped of it due to a technical violation found in post-qualifying inspection.

Blomqvist’s compatriot and Acura Meyer Shank Racing stablemate Nick Yelloly took third in the No. 93 sister car, joined on the second row by the No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr.

Ross Gunn rounded out the top five in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyrie, ahead of the second Porsche Penske entry in the hands of Matt Campbell.

The No. 63 Lamborghini SC63 will start seventh for what is its final scheduled IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship appearance, while Filipe Albuquerque was the best Wayne Taylor Racing driver in eighth.

The pair of BMW M Hybrid V8s of Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde completed the overall top ten, while the No. 40 Cadillac and No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche brought up the rear in class driven by Jordan Taylor and Max Esterson, respectively.

In LMP2, Steven Thomas denied Jeremy Clarke pole position, while George Kurtz lost his two fastest laps for causing a red flag.

Thomas posted a time of 1:13.157 aboard the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson, which was 0.240 seconds faster than a late flyer from Jeremy Clarke’s No. 43 Inter Europol Competition machine.

Clarke’s 1:13.397 dropped PJ Hyett’s No. 99 AO Racing Oreca to third, with Daniel Goldburg and Nick Boulle fourth and fifth in the pair of United Autosports entries.

George Kurtz caused the only red flag across all four qualifying sessions after the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca hit the Turn 5 wall with five and a half minutes to go in the LMP2 session.

As a result, Kurtz was stripped of his two fastest lap times and will start from last in the LMP2 class for Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech Championship season finale.

Patrese Fastest GT Qualifier; Harper Takes Back-to-Back GTD Pro poles

Lorenzo Patrese was the fastest qualifier across the GTD and GTD Pro sessions, while Dan Harper took GTD Pro pole after Albert Costa lost his fastest lap for causing a red flag in practice.

Patrese steered the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 to a best lap of 1:18.316 to take the pole position in GTD, with Harper’s No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO 0.207 seconds back.

Harper was awarded pole although the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari of Albert Costa initially set a faster time of 1:18.430.

However, Costa was stripped of his quickest lap time as a result of causing a red flag during the second practice session on Thursday.

This dropped the Spaniard to fourth in the GTD Pro ranks, while Harper took his second consecutive pole in class after also topping qualifying at Indianapolis last month.

Riccardo Agostini took second in GTD aboard the No. 021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari, followed by the No. 19 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

Aaron Telitz will start from the GTD Pro front row in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, outpacing the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Behind Costa in fourth, reigning GTD Pro champion Laurin Heinrich took fifth in class aboard the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Motul Petit Le Mans kicks off at 12:10 p.m. EST with live coverage beginning on network NBC, along with flag-to-flag coverage on Peacock and internationally on IMSA’s YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Qualifying