In a qualifying session that was delayed 30 minutes due to lightning near the circuit Saturday afternoon (May 14), Chip Ganassi Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais claimed the pole for Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Lexus Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio with a lap at 115.402 mph. It is Bourdais’ second straight pole and third of the year.
“I wish we had three wins instead of three poles. But, it’s a good start,” Bourdais said after the session. “The car is feeling really good. We had big hiccups yesterday and didn’t really get much [track time], but the guys did a really good job and and made big setup improvements overnight and this morning. So hats off to everyone at Chip Ganassi [Racing] and Cadillac Racing.”
DPi qualifying was a rare circumstance where the best times could not come at the end of the session. Just before the halfway point of the session, it began to rain on the 2.258-mile road course. As a result, everyone had to go as fast as they could as soon as they could.
Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque was quickest early on, with Bourdais close behind. With raindrops beginning to fall, Bourdais was able to pick up the pace and overtake Albuquerque four minutes in. That advantage was short-lived as Albuquerque was able to get it back.
With about nine minutes to go in the session, Bourdais put down the quickest lap of the session to win the pole. The lap, which is the fastest lap of the weekend, was nearly a half-second off of the track record currently held by Harry Tincknell.
Bourdais won the pole by exactly two-ninths of a second over Albuquerque. Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Oliver Jarvis will start third, followed by Alex Lynn in the second Ganassi Cadillac. Action Express Racing’s Tristan Nunez was fifth.
LMP2 was dominated by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Patrick Kelly. Kelly set down a banker lap early on, then slowly improved his time. Eventually, Kelly set a time at…
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