Joã​o Barbosa put Action Express Racing on pole position for the 55th Rolex 24 at Daytona in a tense Protoype qualifying session.
Barbosa waited until late in the 15 minute shootout to post his best time of 1:36.903, which put the #5 Cadillac DPi V.R. on pole by just 0.070 seconds.
The Portuguese driver will share the car with Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque during the race on January 28-29, which marks the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.
This weekend's Rolex 24 also signals the beginning of a new era in prototype racing, with the introduction of the new DPi and LMP2 formulas.
Joining Barbosa on the front row of the grid will be the sister Action Express Cadillac DPi, qualified by Dane Cameron.
Cameron posted a time of 1:36.973 during a frenetic final two minutes, which confirmed the front-row lockout for the team.
Third overall and best of the non-DPi runners was reigning World Endurance Champion Neel Jani in the Rebellion Racing ORECA 07. Jani also delivered his best lap in the closing stages of the session, although he couldn't quite split the two Cadillacs with 0.150 seconds separating him from Cameron at the chequered flag.
Ricky Taylor qualified the Wayne Taylor Racing-entered Cadillac DPi fourth despite leading the session at halfway, while Brendon Hartley finished fifth in the #22 Extreme Speed Motorsports Nissan-Onroak DPi.
The DragonSpeed ORECA 07 that crashed out during second practice did not take part in qualifying and will have to start the race from the pit lane as a result.
Ford dominated GT Le Mans qualifying, with the Chip Ganassi-run cars occupying the top three places.
Joey Hand headed up the 1-2-3 with a best time of 1:43.473 behind the wheel of the #66 Ford GT.
It marked Hand's maiden pole position in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.
Second quickest and 0.231 seconds off the pace was Richard Westbrook in the #67 Ford, while Olivier Pla completed the trio despite having an off-track moment at the International Horseshoe.
Toni Vilander finished as the best placed non-Ford driver in the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488, edging out the Porsche 911 RSR of Patrick Pilet.
Whilst Ford monopolised the GT Le Mans ranks, Ferrari swept the front row of the grid in GT Daytona, with Alessandro Pier Guidi setting the fastest lap.
The Spirit of Race driver shot to the top of the order with nine minutes remaining, but had to shave his time down further to ensure pole position over a charging Alessandro Balzan in the Scuderia Corsa 488 GT3.
A time of 1:47.099 near the end of the session ensured Pier Guidi's standing over Balzan, who missed out on the pole by just 0.018 seconds.
Third in class was Marco Sørensen in the sole works Aston Martin Vantage, ahead of Matteo Caroli in the Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R and Mirko Bortolotti in the best of the Lamboroghini Huracans.
In the five-entry Prototype Challenge category, James French put the Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA FLM09 on pole with a 1:42.559 effort.
French led the majority of the session, but had to improve on his final time under pressure from Johnny Mowlem in the #26 BAR1 Motorsports machine, who wound up second.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona gets takes place on January 28-29, with the green flag set to fall at 19:30 UK time (14:30 local).
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