(Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — After recording the quickest time in both practice sessions, Tom Blomqvist recorded a 1:29.580, his fastest lap of the weekend, to win the DPi pole for Sunday’s Sahlen Six Hours of The Glen.
Blomqvist, 28, came off a heartbreaking second-place finish with co-driver Oliver Jarvis two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio. Together, they are in pursuit of their second victory of the season after winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.
“We put quite a bit of focus on qualifying this weekend,” Blomqvist said. “It’s a six-hour race, a lot can happen, so it makes your life a lot easier starting from the front.
“We obviously got a quick car. When we’ve been doing fast laps, we’ve been generally going to the top of the times… we just need to keep on top of conditions.
“It’s more just keeping on top of the wind. Around here, it can change a lot of things.”
With a time of 1:29.744, Filipe Albuquerque qualified his No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura to second. The two Cadillac Racing cars qualified in positions three and four for DPi. Kamui Kobayashi qualified the No. 48 Ally Cadillac, but the team posted just two laps and ran well off the pace. They will start seventh in the class.
LMP2
(Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
By one one-thousandth of a second, Ben Keating qualified his No. 52 car for PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports to the pole in LMP2. He beat out Steven Thomas, who qualified the other car for the organization.
Thomas led qualifying at the halfway mark, but with a little over six minutes remaining in the session, Keating laid down a 1:33.930 and it stuck. Keating recorded his 11th pole in the IMSA WeatherTech Series and his first since Sebring, the previous endurance race on the schedule.
“That’s far and away the fastest lap I’ve done around Watkins Glen. It’s a track that feels so good to do a really quick lap,” Keating said. “This is a place that is really hard to follow, so I think it’s a big advantage to start up front.”
Keating improved his qualifying time this year by over a second from last year’s event.
“1.1 seconds quicker than last year,” Keating said. “It’s just hard to imagine. I remember how hard I was pushing last year.”
Keating will drive his No. 52 car alongside Mikkel Jensen and Scott Huffaker on Sunday.
LMP3
(Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
Posting a time of 1:40.028, Nico Varrone snagged the LMP3 pole for FastMD Racing. He is making his first start in the WeatherTech Series after making two GTE starts in Europe earlier this season. Varrone has previous experience in both LMP3 and open-wheel racing outside of the United States.
“We had a pretty good start to the weekend,” Varrone said. “I’m really thankful to everyone on the team for giving me everything they’ve got for poles, so I’m really happy.”
Josh Sarchet led the session at the halfway point for MLT Motorsports before Varrone quickly topped him on the charts to relegate him to second.
With six minutes remaining, Jarrett Andretti crashed his No. 36 car to put an early end to the session. He hit the wall exiting Turn 11 and later blew a tire entering Turn 1. Andretti also spun multiple times in practice earlier in the weekend. He’ll start Sunday’s race in fourth after a one-position penalty.
Varrone will share the car with Max Hanratty and James Vance on Sunday
GTD Pro
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With a time of 1:44.755, Connor De Phillippi won the pole in the GTD Pro class for BMW M Team RLL. He won the pole despite the team skipping a testing session at the track a few weeks ago.
De Phillippi held off cars from Heart of Racing Team and Risi Competizione to record his second WeatherTech Series pole and his first since Sebring in 2018.
“The car was really good today. [It] was nice to finally get a pole for the team with a new car,” De Phillippi said. “We made some good changes from practice to qualifying, and I think the big question mark is how it will be in the long run for the race.”
All seven GTD Pro cars saw time improvements from practice earlier in the weekend. De Phillippi rolls off on Sunday sharing the seat with John Edwards and Augusto Farfus.
GTD
(Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
In a 16-car GTD class, Stevan McAleer took the pole for Team Korthoff Motorsports after edging out the No. 12 VasserSullivan machine by less than four-tenths of a second. McAleer recorded his second career pole in the WeatherTech Series and is coming off a victory at Watkins Glen in the Michelin Pilot Challenge last year.
Robby Foley of Turner Motorsport held the quickest time at the halfway point before McAleer jumped to the top of the chart. Foley slipped to third behind the VasserSullivan entry.
“Really excited to get my first pole position,” McAleer said. “This track is pretty hard to pass on… We’re in a good spot. We led a couple of practice sessions as well.”
McAleer will split his No. 32 car with Mike Skeen and Dirk Mueller on Sunday.
