GM brands locked out the front row in both classes for IMSA’s Sports Car Classic in Detroit, with Action Express Cadillac’s Earl Bamber on pole in GTP with a 1:05.313. His Cadillac teammate for Wayne Taylor Racing, Louis Deletraz, took second, with Acura’s Nick Yelloly third.
The first GTP time faster than the GTD Pros was the Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. This was quickly bettered, with practice pace setter Earl Bamber, in the #31 Action Express Cadillac setting a 1:06.834.
Fellow Cadillac driver for Wayne Taylor Racing, Louis Deletraz in the #40 car, then set a 1:06.711, but Bamber soon unseated him with a 1:05.885, the first time faster than his fastest time in practice 2.
Half way through the session and Bamber was almost half a second up, with Marco Wittmann in the #25 BMW second. However, Nick Yelloly then usurped him for best of the rest, but was still 0.319 off Bamber, who was flying at the head of the field with 7 and a half minutes to go.
Yelloly had more in the tank though and his next lap was faster than Bamber’s, to the tune of 0.033, a 1:05.852. Deletraz took the top spot back for Cadillac and GM in their own backyard, 0.075 up on Yelloly with a 1:05.777.
Deletraz then improved to a 1:05.635, but seconds later Bamber came through to set a 1:05.313.
But then disaster for Porsche. Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche and teammate Felipe Nasr in the #7 sister both had issues at turn 1. Nasr understeered and nudged the wall, reversing slightly to get out. This caused Estre to need to alter his line and went into the wall, damaging the right-side suspension. The Frenchman was unable to get it back to the pits and thus, with a red flag to end the session, lost his 2 fastest laps, meaning he’d start at the back of the GTP field.
This red flag meant the session was cut short by a few minutes, enabling Bamber to take pole with his 1:05.313. Second was Louis Deletraz in the #40 WTR Cadillac, 0.322 off Bamber. Third was Nick Yelloly in the #93 MSR Acura, 0.539 adrift of Bamber on pole.
Fourth and fifth were the two BMWs, with Marco Wittmann in the #25 ahead of Sheldon van der Linde in the sister #24.
Corvette lock out front row for GM at Detroit
In GTD Pro, the 2 Corvettes completed a Detroit front row lockout, with Alexander Sims in the #3 Pratt Miller Corvette setting a 1:09.354. 0.043 off was his teammate in the sister #4 car, Tommy Milner, while third went to Ben Barnicoat in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus, over 3 tenths slower than Sims on pole.
Fred Vervisch onboard the #65 Ford Mustang was the first to set a time in the 15 minute session, a 1:11.849, soon beaten by his teammate Ben Barker in the sister #64 car with a 1:10.849. The latter was faster than the fastest time in practice 1, but still a way off #4 Pratt Miller Corvette’s Tommy Milner’s 1:10.109 in practice 2.
Neil Verhagen in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW then set a 1:10.387 to go quickest, followed by Milner a tenth and a half off. Milner then improved to a 1:10.278, but his teammate in the #3 Pratt Miller Corvette, Alexander Sims, soon topped that with a 1:10.130.
Milner wasn’t having any of that though, and soon put in a 1:09.710, 3 tenths faster than Sims. The Briton soon responded, but couldn’t get within 2 tenths of his American teammate on top of the times.
The competition was now hotting up between the two Corvette drivers. Sims came across the line with under 2 minutes to go, going almost a tenth and a half faster than Milner, with a 1:09.564. He then improved further by two tenths to a 1:09.354, to go over 3 and a half tenths faster than Milner.
However, the two Bens – Barnicoat in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus and Barker in the #64 Ford Mustang – then slotted in front of Milner, but still 3 tenths off Sims.
Milner, now in fourth, wasn’t done yet though. On his final flying lap, he crossed the line to go just 0.043 slower than Sims, taking the top 2 spots for Corvette Racing, Pratt Miller Motorsports, Chevrolet and General Motors, in the shadow, literally, of their headquarters in Detroit.
So, the GTD Pro top 5 at the end of qualifying was Sims, followed by Milner completing a Corvette front row lockout, then Barnicoat in the #14 Lexus and Barker in the #64 Ford, with Fred Vervisch in the #65 Ford fifth.
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