Team Penske will start tomorrow's 20th edition of the Petit Le Mans 10-hours from pole position, after Helio Castroneves topped the timesheets in qualifying.
The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner set the pace with a time of 1:11.314s behind the wheel of the #6 ORECA 07-Gibson, in the face of strong opposition from the pair of Nissan/Onroak DPis.
Castroneves, who will race for Penske full-time in IMSA next year, will co-drive the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship season finale with fellow IndyCar stars Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud.
After setting the initial benchmark, Castroneves lost provisional pole to the two Nissans, driven by Pipo Derani and Brendon Hartley, which established a gap of two tenths.
However, the Brazilian found a response with eight minutes left in the 15-minute shootout, edging ahead of the pair with a 1:11.438s before improving to his final figure.
Derani settled for second, 0.161 seconds off the pole effort, while Porsche LMP1 driver Hartley picked up the first place on the second row of the grid with a time of 1:11.499s.
Mathias Beche will start next to the defending 24 Hours of Le Mans winner in the Rebellion Racing ORECA, ahead of Renger van der Zande in the Visit Florida Racing Ligier.
Only the turbocharged Nissan DPis managed to provide a challenge to the European-style LMP2 entries, with the naturally-aspirated Cadillac DPi-V.R. runners struggling for pace in the lower temperatures.
Championship leader Ricky Taylor set the quickest time of the Cadillac contingent, but could only lap eight tenths shy of Castroneves in seventh.
Ferrari won the inter-marque battle for GT Le Mans pole position with Toni Vilander setting the fastest lap.
Corvette driver Antonio Garcia led early on, but was superseded by successive improvements from BMW's Bill Auberlen, Ford's Richard Westbrook, and Vilander, who moved to the front with a 1:17.664 in the Risi Competizione 488.
Westbrook tried to form a response, as did Garcia who rose back to third, but neither managed to eat into Vilander's advantage, which by the end of the session had been shaven down to a 1:17.660.
In one of the closest GTLM sessions of the season, the top five cars were separated by less than a tenth of a second, as Joey Hand brought the sister Ford up to fourth, ahead of Auberlen.
Ferrari also found success in GT Daytona, where Matteo Cressoni claimed pole for the points-leading Scuderia Corsa squad, while James French dominated Prototype Challenge for Performance Tech Motorsports.
Petit Le Mans is scheduled to get underway on Saturday, October 7th at 11:05 EDT.
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