Grenier, Stephens Take Pole for JMF at Sebring

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens grabbed pole position for Saturday’s three-hour GT World Challenge America powered by AWS round at Sebring, setting a combined fastest time for JMF Motorsports.

The duo recorded a fastest average time of 2:01.088 in their No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

The Pro class points leaders finished the session 0.239 seconds ahead of title rivals Frederik Schandorff and Matias Perez Companc in the No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

Pro class cars will occupy the top four spots on the grid, with the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO finishing the session in third place.

Dollahite Racing will accompany the Turner BMW on the second row with its No. 6 Ford Mustang GT3 Evo. Driver Alex Sedgwick set the second fastest time in Q1 just 0.322 seconds behind Stephens’ Mercedes-AMG.

This follows an overnight effort by the Dollahite team to rebuild the No. 6 car after a significant crash for Sedgwick in a GTWC America/GT America test session on Friday morning.

The team did not take part in the first practice session of the weekend as a result, and co-drivers Sedgwick and Cameron Lawrence only managed a handful of laps each in Practice 2.

Triarsi Competizione took the Pro-Am class pole with Sebastian Mascaro and Riccardo Agostini driving the No. 18 Ferrari. The class pole-sitters will start the race in fifth place overall.

Despite a late charge from TR3 Racing’s Daniel Morad, the No. 9 Mercedes-AMG squad was unable to take the Pro-Am pole and will line up behind the Triarsi Ferrari.

The No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari will start 17th in the race as the sole Am class car in the field.

The first qualifying session was red flagged after Frank DePew span his Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo and beached it on a curb. The session did not restart, and several drivers were forced to abandon their flying laps.

The three-hour feature race is set to get underway at 5 p.m. EST on Saturday evening with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Qualifying 1/Qualifying 2 

Finlay Ringer

Finlay Ringer is a freelance motorsport journalist covering the 24H Series for Sportscar365. He is also a journalism student at City St George's, University of London, and has contributed to publications such as The Race and Autocar.