Tandy Leads Porsche Penske Front Row Sweep in Detroit

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Nick Tandy led a front row sweep for Porsche Penske Motorsport ahead of Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic in a session that ended early for an accident by Pipo Derani.

Tandy reeled off a best lap of 1:05.390 in the No. 6 Porsche 963, edging out teammate Dane Cameron by 0.124 seconds.

Both times came in the closing moments of the 15-minute session, just seconds before Derani’s No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R made slight contact with the wall and spun with two minutes to go.

It resulted in a red flag, with the session not restarting.

Tandy gave Porsche Penske its first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole of the season in the car he’ll share with Mathieu Jaminet in tomorrow’s 100-minute race on the streets of downtown Detroit.

Sebastien Bourdais qualified third in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac, with the pair of Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06s completing the top-five in the hands of Filipe Albuquerque and Jordan Taylor, respectively.

Philipp Eng, who topped Friday’s second practice session, was sixth, ahead of Bent Viscaal in the No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche and Nick Yelloly’s No. 25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8.

Tijmen van der Helm and Derani, who lost his quickest time for causing the red flag, completed the top-ten.

Corvettes Out Front in GTD Pro

Antonio Garcia put the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on pole in GTD Pro, in a front-row lockout for the factory-supported team on home soil.

Garcia’s 1:09.092 lap time edged out teammate Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette by 0.336 seconds.

It marked the second consecutive WeatherTech Championship pole for the team following Nicky Catsburg’s pole run at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Jack Hawksworth qualified third in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, followed by class points leader Seb Priaulx in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Ferrari factory driver Daniel Serra, making a one-off appearance in the No. 35 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, completed the top-five in class.

The Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic gets underway Saturday at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage on USA Network and Peacock.

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