Jarvis Comes Out on Top in Mid-Ohio Qualifying

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Oliver Jarvis came out on top after a fierce battle in qualifying for Sunday’s Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio.

The Englishman’s 1:10.705 lap time in the No. 77 Team Joest Mazda RT24-P came in the dying moments of the 15-minute qualifying session that saw a four-way fight for pole honors.

Dane Cameron, Helio Castroneves and Pipo Derani all enjoyed time at the top of the time charts over the 15-minute session, which saw marked improvements throughout.

Castroneves, in the No. 7 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 and Jarvis exchanged provisional pole until the ex-Audi LMP1 factory ace’s final flyer before his Multimatic-built prototype ran out of fuel and coasted into the pits.

It marked Jarvis’ second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole of the season following his record-setting qualifying run at Daytona in January.

He will share driving duties with Tristan Nunez tomorrow.

Castroneves will start second in the No. 7 Acura DPi, followed by teammate Cameron in the No. 6 entry and DPi championship leader Pipo Derani in fourth.

It came despite a collision between Castroneves and Derani on the out lap that appeared to damage the Acura DPi’s nose.

The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Joao Barbosa completed the top-five in qualifying, ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay, who is subbing for Harry Tincknell in the second of the Team Joest entries this weekend.

LMP2 pole honors went to the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson of Kyle Masson, who recorded a 1:14.877 time to put hims 11th on the grid overall.

Masson’s time was nearly seven seconds faster than Eric Lux in the second and only other LMP2 car taking part this weekend.

The Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio gets underway Sunday at 1:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage on NBCSN and IMSA.tv.

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