Roda Takes Double Pole for Asian LMS Finale

Giorgio Roda took pole position for both races at the 4H Abu Dhabi season finale of the Asian Le Mans Series at the Yas Marina Circuit.

The Italian secured his fourth and fifth poles of the six-round series aboard the No. 5 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson after a red flag caused by a spin for joint-championship leader Roberto Lacorte briefly interrupted the session.

Roda, who is seeking a first win of the season in the car he shares with Mikkel Jensen and Gregoire Saucy, already held the upper hand prior to the stoppage, then extended his advantage once the session resumed to record a best time of 1:42.179. His second fastest effort, a 1:42.261, was also quicker than anyone else managed to secure another pole for tomorrow’s contest.

Nearest rival Jens Reno Moller trailed by 0.484 seconds in the No. 49 High Class Racing Oreca, the Dane’s late improvement moving him ahead of John Falb’s No. 20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca. However, Falb’s second best effort was faster, so he will join Roda on the front row for Race 2.

Taking advantage of Lacorte’s woes in the No. 47 Cetilar Oreca, which spun at the final corner and was not allowed to rejoin the session, his chief title rival George Kurtz produced a solid session to take fourth in the No. 4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR machine he shares with Louis Deletraz and Malthe Jakobsen.

The recent Rolex 24 victor, level on points with Cetilar in the championship after a double victory in the last round in Dubai, will start fifth on Sunday as his second fastest effort was slightly slower than Giorgios Kolovos in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca.

Michael Jensen completed a strong session for APR by taking sixth aboard the No. 25 Oreca, his late effort edging ahead of Alexander Mattschull’s DKR Engineering example.

Lacorte’s spin meant the Sepang double winner, sharing with Antonio Fuoco and Charles Milesi, will start at the back of the 16-car LMP2 grid for both races.

CLX, GetSpeed Grab Class Poles

European Le Mans Series champion Paul Lanchere completed a clean sweep of LMP3 class pole positions aboard CLX Motorsport’s No. 17 Ligier JS P325 Toyota, although his final margin was tighter than in Sepang or Dubai.

The Frenchman controlled the session and made continual improvements to solidify his position at the top, ultimately settling on a best time of 1:51.440.

But his advantage was ultimately chiseled down to 0.115 seconds by Romain Vozniak in the No. 8 Team Virage Ligier, the Frenchman fractionally ahead of Alex Bukhantsov’s InterEuropol example. Bukhantsov’s second best time however was slightly the quicker, which will put him second on the grid for Race 2.

Terrence Woodward was fourth quickest in his 23Events Racing Ligier and also managed a second best time faster than Vozniak, putting him third for Sunday’s race.

The sole Duqueine DO9 Toyota, R-ACE GP’s Fabien Michal, will start fifth for both races ahead of Tim Whale’s High Class Racing Ligier.

Meanwhile in the GT class, GetSpeed continued its recent strong qualifying in the championship’s Middle Eastern leg, as the team’s pair of Mercedes AMG GT3 Evos locked out the front row for both races.

Steve Jans in the No. 9 entry pipped teammate Abdullah Ali Al-Khelifa’s QMMF by GetSpeed No. 37 after the Qatari had briefly ducked under his initial benchmark, improving to end the session with a best time of 1:53.309.

Jans will also start on pole in tomorrow’s second contest with Ali Al-Khelifa, whose 1:53.382 effort was just 0.075 seconds shy, again lining up alongside him.

Giacomo Petrobelli will start third for both races in Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, ahead of Dustin Blattner’s Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 and the pair of WRT BMW M4 GT3s driven by Anthony McIntosh and Rinat Salikhov.

The first of the weekend’s two 4 hour contests begins at 3 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Qualifying