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Fittipaldi Leads Corvette DP Qualifying Sweep in Detroit

Christian Fittipaldi puts Action Express Corvette DP on pole…

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Christian Fittipaldi has led a Corvette DP 1-2-3-4 sweep in qualifying for Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Belle Isle, the fifth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

Fittipaldi reeled off a best lap of 1:23.815 in his No. 5 Action Express Racing entry, edging out the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing entry of Marc Goossens by just 0.048 seconds.

Goossens made a late improvement and put the pressure on the Brazilian, enough for Fittipaldi to spin his Corvette DP with just seconds left on the 15-minute session.

It marked the team’s second pole of the season as Fititpaldi and co-driver Joao Barbosa seek their first win of 2016 in Saturday’s 100-minute shootout.

Fittipaldi, however, may not actually lead the field to the green, as he told Sportscar365 that the spin caused multiple flat spots on the tires.

IMSA rules allow teams to only change up to one tire prior to the race. Otherwise, the car would start from the rear of the P/PC class field on Saturday.

The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of Ricky Taylor qualified third, followed by Eric Curran’s No. 31 Whelen-backed entry in fourth.

Katherine Legge, in her LMP2 debut, completed the top-five in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda.

Both of the Mazdas struggled in the session, with Tristan Nunez sixth, ahead of Tom Long in seventh, after the No. 70 underwent an engine change between practice sessions.

Robert Alon scored his second consecutive pole in Prototype Challenge, taking his PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry to the top qualifying spot.

Alon laid down a 1:27.571 in his No. 52 Oreca FLM09, outpacing the No. 38 Performance Tech entry of James French by 0.280 seconds in the heated 15-minute session.

It marked back-to-back poles for Alon after his run at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, where he teamed with Tom Kimber-Smith for victory.

The No. 8 Starworks Motorsport entry of Alex Popow will roll off third, with Mikhail Goikhberg (JDC/Miller Motorsports) and Jon Bennett (CORE autosport) completing the top-five.

The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic gets underway Saturday at 12:40 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FS1.

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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