Ferrari Beats Toyota to Shock 1000M Sebring Pole

Antonio Fuoco claimed the first pole position for the new Ferrari 499P ahead of the Italian LMH car’s FIA World Endurance Championship debut at Sebring International Raceway.

After Toyota led last weekend’s Prologue test and all Free Practice sessions, Fuoco shocked the Japanese manufacturer in qualifying by reeling off a time of 1:45.067.

The Italian beat Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid by 0.214 seconds, while Kamui Kobayashi qualified third in the sister Toyota on a 1:45.548.

Ferrari AF Corse sandwiched the two Toyotas as Alessandro Pier Guidi took fourth with a time of 1:45.874.

Alex Lynn put Cadillac squad Chip Ganassi Racing fifth in the highest-placed LMDh car, ahead of the two LMDh-spec Porsche 963s from Porsche Penske Motorsport.

Peugeot qualified eighth and ninth, with the French manufacturer’s best hybrid-powered 9X8 LMH car ending up 2.3 seconds off the pace.

Glickenhaus Racing beat Floyd Vanwall Racing Team in the battle between the non-hybrid LMH constructors, with Olivier Pla finishing just under two-tenths ahead of Tom Dillmann.

In LMP2, Oliver Jarvis broke the 1:50 barrier to claim the top spot for United Autosports.

The reigning IMSA DPi champion registered a time of 1:49.974 with six and a half minutes to go and stayed at the top of the pile until the end.

Jarvis squeezed ahead of earlier pacesetter Pietro Fittipaldi by 0.093 seconds, putting the No. 23 Oreca 07 Gibson on the front of the grid alongside the No. 28 JOTA Oreca.

Behind Fittipaldi was Team WRT driver Robin Frijns, while Matthieu Vaxiviere produced a late improvement to take fourth for Alpine Elf Team, which won the 1000 Miles of Sebring outright last year as a Hypercar team.

Bovy Beats Keating in GTE-Am Battle

Sarah Bovy claimed the GTE-Am pole for Iron Dames ahead of the Italian team’s first race with Porsche after the Belgian driver beat Ben Keating in a to-and-fro battle.

Bovy and Corvette Racing’s Keating exchanged the fastest lap several times during the 15-minute session reserved for Bronze-rated drivers. The Iron Dames driver ultimately held sway with a time of 1:58.949 that beat Keating’s best effort by four-tenths.

Ahmad Al Harthy slotted Aston Martin squad ORT by TF Sport into third, ahead of the Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Luis Perez Companc.

The other GTE-Am driver to break the two-minute barrier was Stefano Costantino who placed fifth aboard AF Corse’s No. 21 Ferrari.

The 1000 Miles of Sebring takes the green flag Friday at 12 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Qualifying