Gidley Bags Fifth Consecutive Pole in SKI Autosports Audi

Photo: Andrew Miterko/SRO

Memo Gidley claimed his fifth consecutive GT America powered by AWS pole as the SKI Autosports driver looks to clinch the SRO3 class title in this afternoon’s opening race of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.

Gidley, in the No. 56 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II, reeled off a best lap of 1:22.511 in the session to edge out the No. 19 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Joel Cortes by 0.706 seconds.

Ross Chouest will start third in the No. 50 Chouest Poveledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with Porsches from Scott Blind and Kyle Washington completing the top-five from Ruckus Racing and GMG Racing, respectively.

Gidley’s nearest title rival, Tony Davis, qualified seventh, putting the ex-IndyCar driver in prime position to lock up the championship three races early if he finishes sixth or better if Davis wins.

Zachary Lee qualified his No. 11 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 in ninth overall, in his first GT America weekend, qualifying ahead of Cup class entrant David Lecko in his No. 89 RacingSupport Ginetta GTP8.

A 30-minute final practice immediately preceded qualifying, which was topped by Gidley, who recorded a best lap of 1:22.706.

The first 40-minute race of the weekend takes the green flag at 12 p.m. CST with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel, with Race 2 on tap for Sunday at 9:25 a.m.

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