PR1/Mathiasen Takes PC Pole in Monterey

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports has claimed Prototype Challenge pole for Sunday’s Continental Monterey Grand Prix, following a heated qualifying session that went in favor of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rookie Robert Alon.

Alon took the No. 52 Oreca FLM09 to a best lap of 1:21.146, edging out the No. 38 Performance Tech entry of James French by 0.139 seconds.

The 15-minute session saw four of the spec prototypes battle for pole, with Alon, French, Alex Popow and Matt McMurry all trading the top spot.

It marked the first pole of the season for the Bobby Oergel-led PR1 squad, with Alon sharing driving duties with Tom Kimber-Smith in tomorrow’s two-hour PC/GTD race.

The No. 8 Starworks Motorsport entry of Popow will roll off third in class, with McMurry in fourth in the No. 20 BAR1 entry.

Alex Riberas scored his first career pole in GT Daytona, taking his No. 23 The Heart of Racing/Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R to the top spot in the highly competitive class.

Riberas’ 1:25.775 lap edged out the Sebring class-winning No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 of Christina Nielsen by 0.722 seconds, in a career best qualifying effort for the Dane.

The Silver-rated Spaniard, recently announced for a full-season campaign with the AJR squad, will share driving duties tomorrow with Mario Farnbacher.

Patrick Lindsey qualified the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche in third, despite a spin late in the session, with Cedric Sbirrazzuoli fourth in the No. 27 Dream Racing Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

The No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 of Brandon Davis completed the top-five.

Six different manufacturers were represented in the top-seven in class.

The PC/GTD portion of the Continental Monterey Grand Prix gets underway Sunday at 3:45 p.m. PT.

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