K-PAX’s Pepper, Caldarelli Sweep Watkins Glen Qualifying

Photo: Brian Cleary/SRO

Championship leaders Jordan Pepper and Andrea Caldarelli have taken pole positions for this weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS rounds at Watkins Glen International.

Pepper reeled off a 1:46.618 in damp conditions as the checkered flag came out in Q1 following a red flag and restart for the stranded No. 91 Rearden Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Jeff Burton.

The South African driver improved on his 1:46.638 lap time prior to the red flag in his Pro class No. 3 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini.

Pepper was 0.633 seconds quicker than teammate Corey Lewis, who also laid down a last-lap flyer, demoting the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 of Michael Dinan to third.

Erin Vogel claimed Pro-Am class pole in the No. 19 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, thanks to a 1:51.104 that will put her fifth on the overall grid for Race 1.

Jean-Claude Saada qualified the No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 on Am class pole ahead of Bill Sweedler.

Q2 saw Pepper’s co-driver Caldarelli take the pole on his final lap, thanks to a 1:44.628 lap time.

It bumped the Pro-Am class pole-sitting No. 20 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Jan Heylen to second overall, ahead of Mikael Grenier in the No. 33 Winward Racing Mercedes.

A late improvement by Matt McMurry will see the No. 77 Compass Racing start fourth overall and second in Pro-Am in Race 2, with the No. 19 DXDT Mercedes of Michael Cooper completing the top-five.

Race 1 gets underway this afternoon at 1:45 p.m. ET with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube page.

RESULTS: Qualifying 1/Qualifying 2

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