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BMW Sweeps GTLM Front Row for 12H Sebring

Bill Auberlen, John Edwards give BMW qualifying sweep in GTLM…

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

BMW Team RLL has swept the front row in the GT Le Mans class for Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with Bill Auberlen taking the BMW M6 GTLM to its maiden pole position.

Auberlen laid down a quick lap of 1:58.402 in the heated 15-minute qualifying session to edge out teammate John Edwards by 0.190 seconds.

It was the first BMW lock-out in qualifying since Long Beach last year, a race which Auberlen and co-driver Dirk Werner went on to win.

They’ll be joined by Bruno Spengler in the No. 25 entry on Saturday.

Daniel Serra qualified the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GTE in third, two-tenths behind Auberlen, while Richard Westbrook was fourth in his No. 67 Ford GT.

The pair of Corvette C7.Rs, which finished 1-2 at Daytona in January, completed the top-six in class, which was separated by less than a half-second.

Jeff Segal claimed his first WeatherTech Championship class pole and the first for the debuting Ferrari 488 GT3, in a three-way fight for top qualifying honors in GT Daytona.

Segal put his No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari on top with a quick lap of 2:02.350, edging out the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R of Jeroen Bleekemolen by 0.036 seconds.

Jens Klingmann in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 was third with a 2:02.660 lap, after the BMW factory driver held provisional pole on at least two occasions.

Class pole-sitter Segal will be joined by full-season drivers Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen in the car tomorrow.

Mario Farnbacher made it four different manufacturers in the top-four in his No. 23 The Heart of Racing/AJR Porsche 911 GT3 R, with teammate Leh Keen completing the top-five in class.

The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring gets underway Saturday at 10:40 a.m. ET.

RESULTS: Qualifying

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

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