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GT World Challenge America

Long Claims SprintX Pole, Riberas Crashes at CTMP

Pat Long will start on pole after trouble strikes R. Ferri Motorsport…

Photo: Brian Cleary/bcpix.com

Photo: Brian Cleary/bcpix.com

Patrick Long and Wright Motorsports will start on pole for tomorrow’s Pirelli World Challenge SprintX race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park after an accident from the pace-setting Ferrari of Alex Riberas promoted the Porsche ace to the top spot.

Long’s time of 1:15.221 in the No. 58 Porsche 911 GT3 R was good enough to set the track record at CTMP, but was several tenths of a second slower than Riberas’ best time that dipped down into the 1:14-range.

However Riberas lost that lap, the track record, and the pole when he made heavy contact with a barrier in his R. Ferri Motorsports Ferrari 488 GT3 with six minutes remaining in the session.

The accident brought out a lengthy red flag clean the track and repair the barrier, and by rule Riberas lost his fastest lap by virtue of being the driver responsible for the stoppage.

If the car can be repaired in time, Riberas’ next-fastest lap was still good enough to secure a starting spot on the inside of the second row.

Daniel Morad will start second in the No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shares with Ryan Dalziel. The Canadian’s best lap was just 0.005 seconds slower than Long’s pole time.

The Pro-Am class pole went to Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 75 Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 for Always Evolving/AIM Autosport.

Michael Schein locked down second in class 0.290 seconds behind, with James Sofronas third in the GMG Racing Porsche.

Other class pole winners were Tyler McQuarrie for NGT Motorsports in Am-Am, Yuki Harata in GT Cup Pro-Am for Dream Racing, Cory Friedman in GT Cup Am-Am for Autometrics Motorsports, Aristotle Balogh in GTS Am-Am for Stephen Cameron Racing, and George Kurtz in GTS Pro-Am for GMG Racing.

The first hour-long SprintX race of the weekend is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. ET tomorrow with coverage available at World-Challenge.com and MotorTrend On Demand.

RESULTS: Qualifying

Ryan Myrehn is an Indianapolis-based broadcaster and reporter. In addition to his work covering primarily domestic sports car racing for Sportscar365, he is the lead announcer for SRO America's TV coverage as well as a pit reporter for IndyCar Radio. Myrehn, a graduate of DePauw University, is also the host of Sportscar365's “Double Stint” Podcast.

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