Derani Leads Cadillac Front Row Sweep at Sebring

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Pipo Derani led a Cadillac front-row sweep for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring after a session-ending crash for the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Matt Campbell.

Derani, in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, recorded a best lap of 1:45.836 in the 20-minute scheduled session, which came to an early end with four minutes to go.

The Brazilian was 0.087 seconds ahead of the the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais, who laid down a 1:45.923 lap time just moments before the red flag.

Ricky Taylor qualified third in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 after being the only car to take a second set of Michelin tires in the session, a newly permitted rule in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class qualifying.

Taylor, however, was unable to capitalize on the fresh rubber due to Campbell’s accident, which saw the Porsche factory driver clip the inside of the Turn 1 wall before ending up in the tire barriers.

While Campbell climbed from the heavily damaged car uninjured, the session did not restart.

The No. 6 Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet qualified fourth, ahead of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Tom Blomqvist in fifth and Augusto Farfus’ No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8, which will start sixth.

Campbell’s No. 7 Porsche will provisionally start seventh, after losing his fastest time due to bringing out the red flag.

Garcia, Marcelli Claim GTD Pro, GTD Poles

Antonio Garcia claimed GTD Pro pole honors in a shortened session following a heavy impact by Klaus Bachler in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Garcia reeled off a best lap of 1:59.315 in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD to edge out the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth by 0.267 seconds.

GTD Pro points leader Dani Juncadella qualified third in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

The GTD Pro/GTD session ended under a red flag after Bachler lost control of his Porsche and slammed into the Turn 1 tire barriers.

The Austrian climbed from the car under his own power, although significant left-front damage was sustained.

GTD class pole honors went to the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports With WTR Andretti Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Kyle Marcelli, who qualified fourth amongst the production-based cars.

Marcelli’s 1:59.714 lap time was 0.120 seconds quicker than the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes of Philip Ellis.

Ben Keating claimed LMP2 pole honors in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson, thanks to a 1:51.780 lap time by the Texan, who is one of the more than two-dozen drivers pulling double duty between the WeatherTech Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship races this weekend.

The LMP3 class pole, meanwhile, went to the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Glenn van Berlo.

The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring gets underway at 10:10 a.m. ET with live coverage on Peacock.

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