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Mid-Ohio Saturday Notebook

John Dagys’ Saturday IMSA notebook from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course…

Photo: Michelin

***The No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson, which scored LMP2 class pole in the hands of Kyle Masson, will start from the rear of the Prototype field in tomorrow’s Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio due to a change of starting driver to Cameron Cassels. Click Here for the provisional grid.

***Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais broke the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR’s three-race pole streak dating back to the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona. Nick Tandy put the CORE autosport-run Porsche on pole at Daytona and Long Beach, with teammate Patrick Pilet grabbing top qualifying honors at Sebring.

***GT Daytona class pole-sitter Richard Heistand’s one-and-only last start at Mid-Ohio came nearly 20 years ago in Skip Barber competition. The 35-year-old gave AIM Vasser Sullivan its maiden pole in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition in only the team’s third start.

***Heistand’s teammates Frankie Montecalvo and Townsend Bell head into tomorrow’s race essentially leading the GTD championship, on 54 points to the 70 of Daytona and Sebring class winners Mirko Bortolotti, Rik Breukers and Rolf Ineichen of Grasser Racing Team, which are Michelin Endurance Cup only-entrants.

***The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R lost its second place qualifying run in GT Daytona after its quickest time was disallowed due to not serving a drive-through penalty for lining up at pit exit while under the session’s red flag.

***Four other cars, the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3, No. 44 Magnus Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, No. 74 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and No. 76 Compass Racing McLaren 720S GT3 were also handed penalties for the same infraction but were all served during the session.

***It dropped the Zach Robichon-driven Pfaff Porsche to a fifth place qualifying result in class.

***Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner believes that previous track experience could help tomorrow due to the changing conditions that have impacted the running so far this weekend.

“The track will be drier and should grip tomorrow,” Milner said. “So there is some knowledge and experience we can pull from previous seasons. As drivers, we can have an idea where the track grips up and where it doesn’t and things like that. ”

***After debuting at Sebring, the Michelin Race Tire Experience has returned this weekend (pictured above), allowing fans to get an inside look at the tire company’s involvement in IMSA and learn about the technology transfer to its line of passenger tires.

***Located in the tire compound in the WeatherTech Championship paddock, fans can take part in a museum-like audio tour, narrated by John Hindhaugh, with nine ‘stations’ including information on tire technology, Michelin’s tire workshop and insights on the current race venue.

***Michelin’s Race Tire Experience is slated to be at the majority of the remaining IMSA events.

***ADT has joined CORE autosport as a primary sponsor on the team’s No. 54 Nissan DPi of Jon Bennett and Colin Braun beginning with this weekend’s race. The home and business security company will be featured in commercials during NBCSN race broadcasts.

***Sportscar365 understands that ADT’s advertising fulfills part of IMSA’s marketing commitment for Nissan, which has remained as an automotive partner for this year. The now-defunct Tequila Patron ESM operation previously funded the agreement on behalf of the Japanese manufacturer.

***CORE owner/driver Bennett, meanwhile, is celebrating his 54th birthday today, on May 4. The team runs No. 54 on the Nissan DPi because of Bennett’s birth date.

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

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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