Rennsport One’s Stevan McAleer put himself in excellent position to defend his victory from last year Thursday (Jan. 26) by winning the pole for Friday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona. McAleer’s lap at 114.268 mph is a new Grand Sport track record by more than six-tenths of a second.
“It’s nice to be at the pointy end of the field,” McAleer said afterwards. “Our goal is to try to capitalize and get a good result. I’d love to win, but I’d be happy with a top three finish.”
McAleer won the pole by .038 seconds over KohR Motorsports’ Luca Mars. PF Racing’s Zane Smith will start third, then Murillo Racing’s Kenny Murillo and CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Sean McAlister.
Wyatt Bricachek will start Van der Steur Racing’s first GS race from sixth on the grid, then AutoTechnic Racing’s John Capestro-Dubets. Hailie Deegan starts eighth in the second PF Racing Ford, then TR3 Racing’s Jon Branam in the best of the Bronze Cup cars. Motorsports In Action’s Jesse Lazare starts 10th.
Unlike the ROAR Before the 24 and even the pre-qualifying practice, Grand Sport qualifying was a back-and-forth affair. Smith and Mars, the quickest drivers at the ROAR, were right up there. So was McAlister in his Porsche.
Capestro-Dubets was quickest early on in his new BMW G82 M4 GT4 before Smith put his Mustang at the front. McAleer then displaced Smith at the top of the chart with about five minutes remaining.
The nightmare weekend for Crucial Motorsports with their McLaren continued in qualifying. Henry O’Hara pulled off the track in the Le Mans chicane to try to reboot his McLaren Artura GT4. He eventually got it back going after a brief interruption, but only good enough for O’Hara to get the car back to the pits.
McCumbee-McAleer Racing with AEROSPORT’s Jenson Altzman was quick early on in the session, but his No. 13 Mustang ground to a halt exiting the International Horseshoe. Altzman pulled the car into a safe place to prevent a red flag, but the team will have to make some repairs prior to Friday’s race. He ultimately qualified 12th.
In TCR, VGRT had dominated both practice sessions prior to qualifying, but it was LA Honda World Racing’s Mat Pombo that drew first blood with a track record lap. Later on, a group of five different cars got together into a draft. That allowed Bryan Herta Autosport’s Harry Gottsacker to go to the top of the…
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