Fisichella Breaks Through for GTLM Pole at Indy

Photo: John Dagys

After a season filled with disappointment, Risi Competizione’s luck turned around in its debut trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the Ferrari squad claimed GT Le Mans class pole for Friday’s Brickyard Grand Prix.

Formula One veteran Giancarlo Fisichella, who competed in all eight U.S. Grand Prixs held at the famed circuit, turned a best lap of 1:22.378 in his No. 62 Ferrari F458 Italia GT.

The Italian driver’s time was 0.064 seconds quicker than John Edwards in the No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE, who settled for second.

It marked the Houston-based squad’s first class pole of the season and the fifth different manufacturer to take top qualifying honors this year.

Additionally, Fisichella, who will share driving duties with Pierre Kaffer in Friday’s two-hour and 45-minute race, is the seventh different driver to have taken GTLM pole in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

The No. 93 SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R will line up third in class, thanks to Jonathan Bomarito’s 1:22.491 lap, which edged out teammate Marc Goossens by 0.049 seconds.

Goossens was fourth, with BMW Team RLL’s Bill Auberlen completing the top-five in class, which was separated by less than two-tenths.

The championship-leading No. 3 Corvette C7.R of Antonio Garcia will roll off sixth after a spin by the Spaniard in qualifying, who recovered to record a 1:22.593 lap time.

The No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR of Bryan Sellers outran both of the factory Porsches for the second consecutive event, qualifying seventh in class.

Dane Cameron, meanwhile, soared to the pole in GT Daytona, his second of the season.

The Turner Motorsports driver reeled off a quick lap of 1:26.058 in his No. 94 BMW Z4 GT3 that he’ll share with the returning Paul Dalla Lana on Friday.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park class winner Jeroen Bleekemolen was second in the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R, with points leader Townsend Bell completing the top-three in the class.

The top-five in GTD was rounded out by Spencer Pumpelly (Flying Lizard Motorsports) and Mario Farnbacher (AJR/Team Seattle).

James Davison (TRG-AMR) made it six different manufacturers in the top six, which was separated by less than three-tenths.

The Brickyard Grand Prix takes the green flag Friday at 5:45 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FOX Sports 1.

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