Helio Castroneves has put Acura Team Penske on pole position for the Weathertech 240 at Daytona while Corvette Racing took a one-two in GTLM.
Castroneves went quickest of all, setting a 01:34:390 in the #7 Acura ARX-05 to take his fourth pole position in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship. The triple Indy 500 winner beat out the #77 Mazda RT24-P of Oliver Jarvis by 0.032s.
Jonathan Bomarito made it two Mazdas in the top three in the #55 Mazda RT-24P with a time of 01:34:454, some three tenths slower than his team-mate.
Brief stop for Barbosa
The Cadillac runners were not able to match the qualifying pace of the Acuras and Mazda. Ryan Briscoe was the quickest of the Cadillacs in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing car, six-tenths off Castroneves’ pole time. Gabby Chaves was sixth in the Whelen Engineering Cadillac, with the two JDC-Miller cars bringing up the car.
Joao Barbosa took seventh place in the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac in a session where the Portuguese veteran had a curious moment. After exiting the Bus Stop chicane, he brought the car to a brief stop on the oval apron before picking up speed again. Barbosa was still two-tenths quicker than team-mate Chris Miller in the #85 Cadillac DPi-VR.
Maiden pole for new Corvette
Corvette Racing locked out the front row in GTLM. Oliver Gavin went virtually unchallenged throughout the session and ended up with a quickest time of 01:42:251 in the #4 Corvette C8.R. It was the first pole position for the new Corvette C8.R in only its third competitive outing. Jordan Taylor was 0.272s slower in the #3 Corvette C8.R.
BMW and Porsche were unable to challenge Corvette. Jesse Krohn came closest in the #24 BMW M8 GTE, setting a time of 01:42:628 to go third fastest, a mere 0.001s faster than the #912 Porsche 911 RSR-19.
IMSA iRacing Pro Series champion Bruno Spengler was fifth in the #25 BMW with a time of 01:42:674, some four-tenths down on the pole time.
Nick Tandy, who set the quickest time in the morning practice session, was not able to convert his practice pace into qualifying success and brought up the rear in class.
In GT Daytona, Corgey Fergus took pole position for Compass Racing after besting the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 of Aaron Telitz. Fergus, who is making his debut in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, set a time of 01:47:015 in the #76 McLaren 720S GT3. Fergus was 0.137s quicker than Telitz.
Robby Foley, who was fastest before losing out to Fergus and Telitz, qualified third in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.
Frankie Montecalvo was fourth in the #12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, ahead of Cooper Macneil in the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 in fifth place, while Matt McMurry was the quickest of the two MSR Acura NSX GT3 Evos in sixth place, just ahead of team-mate Misha Goikhberg.
Ryan Hardwick was eighth in the lone Wright Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R. Hardwick’s session got off to a delayed start after serving a three minute stop and hold penalty for a practice infringement.
