Van Berlo Beats Priaulx to Pole in Rain-Soaked Session

Photo: Porsche

Kay van Berlo has edged out title rival Seb Priaulx for pole in a rain-soaked qualifying session for Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by The Cayman Islands competitors at Virginia International Raceway.

Van Berlo reeled off a best time of 2:01.902 in his No. 3 Kelly-Moss Road & Race Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, outpacing Pro class points leader Priaulx by 0.331 seconds.

It marked the Dutchman’s third pole of the season.

Eric Johansson in the No. 14 MRS-GT Racing entry qualified a season-best third followed by Riley Dickinson’s Team Hardpoint Porsche in fourth and Parker Thompson in fifth for JDX Racing.

Four of the top six qualifiers were Porsche North America Junior Program drivers.

Leh Keen qualified sixth in the No. 12 311RS Motorsport Porsche followed by Sebastian Carazo, TJ Fisher, Max Root and Ryan Gates, who completed the top-ten.

Alan Metni scored top qualifying honors in Pro-Am in his Kelly-Moss Porsche while Matt Halcome again scored pole in Pro-Am 991 for previous-generation Porsche machinery.

The 30-minute session started on a wet track and saw light rain throughout.

Race 1 of the weekend gets underway at 3:30 p.m. ET, with Race 2 slated for a 12:15 p.m.. start on Sunday. Both races will be streamed live on PorscheCarreraCup.us and IMSA.tv featuring Radio Le Mans commentary.

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