October 10th, 2011 - Anthony Davidson will start Saturday's 14th annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda from the overall pole, giving Peugeot the first blood heading into the 1,000-mile/10-hour Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and American Le Mans Series round.
Friday's 15-minute prototype qualifying session featured a heated duel for the top spot, with Davidson slamming down a 1:07.428 lap time early on. Despite a late attempt by the No. 1 Audi R18 TDI of Timo Bernhard, the Brit held onto the top spot, scoring back-to-back poles at Road Atlanta.
"It's history repeating so far but we walked away with second place last year, so I want to get one step better tomorrow," said Davidson, who made his racing return after suffering a broken collar-bone in August.
Peugeot proved to have the upper hand in qualifying Friday at Road Atlanta. (Photo: John Dagys)
"Seven weeks ago, I never even dreamed of being here. It's been a good recovery. I obviously had to miss my home race in Silverstone, but the team still did a good job and walked away with a victory there."
Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud, who took top honors for Peugeot in the Six Hours of Silverstone, will join Davidson behind the wheel of the No. 7 car tomorrow as Peugeot goes for the Petit Le Mans hat trick.
Diesel arch-rival Audi ended up second and fourth in qualifying, with Bernhard's 1:07.556 just 0.128 seconds slower than the Peugeot's best. The No. 2 Audi of Dindo Capello was a further four-tenths behind in the car that set the pace in final practice this morning.
The No. 10 Team ORECA Matmut Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP, which makes its final race start tomorrow, was fifth quickest in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre, resulting in a diesel sweep yet again.
Andrea Belicchi in the No. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60 Toyota was the quickest of the gasoline-powered contingent in sixth overall, but over 2.5 seconds adrift, with the pace-setting ALMS car, the No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola B09/86 Mazda, only able to muster a ninth place qualifying effort.
The battle for top honors in LMP2 came down to the wire, as Level 5 Motorsports' Luis Diaz put in a 1:12.335 just as the checkered flag waved. It was enough to bump the No. 26 Signatech Nissan Oreca 03 Nissan of JK Vernay from the top spot and give the class pole to the popular Mexican driver.
"It was just a matter of having a clean lap," Diaz said. "The guys did a great job with the car. We were surprised because we know the speed of the Nissan. And to beat them here is very special. For so many hours of work on those cars... I think it's good motivation for the race."
Diaz, who will share the wheel of the team's No. 055 HPD ARX-01g with Scott Tucker and Marino Franchitti, outran Vernay by a considerable 0.305 seconds. Level 5's ILMC-designated HPD of Christophe Bouchut was third quickest in class with a 1:13.958 lap time by the Frenchman.
Luis Diaz took the LMP2 class pole in dramatic fashion. (Photo: John Dagys)
After suffering a devastating accident in final practice, Intersport Racing rolled its backup car off the trailer and less than four hours later put it on pole in LMPC.
Kyle Marcelli reeled off an impressive 1:14.848 lap time in the newly re-badged No. 89 Oreca FLM09 to out run the No. 36 Genoa Racing machine of Dane Cameron by 0.433 seconds.
The pole marked Marcelli's second straight in ALMS competition, but under difficult circumstances. Co-driver David Ducote was transported by helicopter to Atlanta Medical Center following the morning's accident, which destroyed the team's original No. 89 car.
Ducote was reported to have been awake and alert and moving all of his extremities following the impact, but no further medical update has been released.
It no doubt gave Marcelli extra incentive to take the pole.
"The guys worked so hard getting the car prepared for qualifying," Marcelli said. "For me, it was a little bit difficult mentally getting into a car that virtually had been just rebuilt. But I just had to do my job. I trust our engineers and staff. They did a great job. I just had to get to work."
Cameron held the pole for most of the 15-minute session but had to settle for second. Nonetheless, it was an impressive effort for the London Project-backed effort, which currently doesn't have a starting position in tomorrow's race.
Ryan Lewis put the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 in third.
BMW appeared to had been en route to its eighth class pole of the year until the closing moments of GT qualifying, as Gimmi Bruni laid down a blazing 1:18.699 lap time with less than two minutes remaining.
It was enough to give the rapid Italian and AF Corse the pole, the second consecutive in combined ALMS/ILMC competition for driver and team.
AF Corse celebrated a double-pole in GT and GTE-Am. (Photo: John Dagys)
"It's been very good," Bruni said. "My engineer went on the radio and said, 'You're only one-tenth behind the BMW.' I was pushing but he said that he was sure I could find one-tenth... It was a challenge but good. The car was really good. The tires helped us a lot for sure too."
The newly crowned Le Mans Series champion outran the No. 55 BMW M3 GT of Dirk Werner by 0.087 seconds. The No. 56 BMW of Dirk Muller, who recently clinched the ALMS drivers' championship with Joey Hand, was a further four-tenths behind in third.
Risi Competizione's Ferrari, in the hands of Jamie Melo, clocked in the fourth quickest time with a 1:19.247, while Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca winners Flying Lizard Motorsports completed the top-five.
The top-nine in GT were separated by 0.920 seconds.
Rui Aguas put his Michael Waltrip Racing-backed AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT on the GTE-Am class pole. The Portuguese ace, who has been the driver to beat all week long, turned a time of 1:20.619 lap time, edging out the No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari of Nic Jonsson by 0.261 seconds.
It marked an all-Ferrari front row in class and a double pole for the Amato Ferrari-owned squad in both GT and GTE-Am.
"For us, it's great," said Aguas, who will share the wheel with MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman and SPEED's Justin Bell. "We had a few problems in the beginning before qualifying. For me and Gimmi, it's wonderful to be on pole and represent the team and Ferrari like that."
In GTC, Jeroen Bleekemolen scored the class pole, thanks his 1:24.543 lap time in the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Porsche. Bleekemolen, who could help co-driver Tim Pappas clinch the championship with a solid finish on Saturday, narrowly edged out the No. 66 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Spencer Pumpelly by a mere 0.053 seconds.
TRG teammate Dion Von Moltke wound up third in the No. 68 machine with a 1:24.844 lap time.
The 14th annual Petit Le Mans, the final round of the American Le Mans Series season and penultimate race of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, will take the green flag tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Friday's 15-minute prototype qualifying session featured a heated duel for the top spot, with Davidson slamming down a 1:07.428 lap time early on. Despite a late attempt by the No. 1 Audi R18 TDI of Timo Bernhard, the Brit held onto the top spot, scoring back-to-back poles at Road Atlanta.
"It's history repeating so far but we walked away with second place last year, so I want to get one step better tomorrow," said Davidson, who made his racing return after suffering a broken collar-bone in August.
Peugeot proved to have the upper hand in qualifying Friday at Road Atlanta. (Photo: John Dagys)
"Seven weeks ago, I never even dreamed of being here. It's been a good recovery. I obviously had to miss my home race in Silverstone, but the team still did a good job and walked away with a victory there."
Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud, who took top honors for Peugeot in the Six Hours of Silverstone, will join Davidson behind the wheel of the No. 7 car tomorrow as Peugeot goes for the Petit Le Mans hat trick.
Diesel arch-rival Audi ended up second and fourth in qualifying, with Bernhard's 1:07.556 just 0.128 seconds slower than the Peugeot's best. The No. 2 Audi of Dindo Capello was a further four-tenths behind in the car that set the pace in final practice this morning.
The No. 10 Team ORECA Matmut Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP, which makes its final race start tomorrow, was fifth quickest in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre, resulting in a diesel sweep yet again.
Andrea Belicchi in the No. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60 Toyota was the quickest of the gasoline-powered contingent in sixth overall, but over 2.5 seconds adrift, with the pace-setting ALMS car, the No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola B09/86 Mazda, only able to muster a ninth place qualifying effort.
The battle for top honors in LMP2 came down to the wire, as Level 5 Motorsports' Luis Diaz put in a 1:12.335 just as the checkered flag waved. It was enough to bump the No. 26 Signatech Nissan Oreca 03 Nissan of JK Vernay from the top spot and give the class pole to the popular Mexican driver.
"It was just a matter of having a clean lap," Diaz said. "The guys did a great job with the car. We were surprised because we know the speed of the Nissan. And to beat them here is very special. For so many hours of work on those cars... I think it's good motivation for the race."
Diaz, who will share the wheel of the team's No. 055 HPD ARX-01g with Scott Tucker and Marino Franchitti, outran Vernay by a considerable 0.305 seconds. Level 5's ILMC-designated HPD of Christophe Bouchut was third quickest in class with a 1:13.958 lap time by the Frenchman.
Luis Diaz took the LMP2 class pole in dramatic fashion. (Photo: John Dagys)
After suffering a devastating accident in final practice, Intersport Racing rolled its backup car off the trailer and less than four hours later put it on pole in LMPC.
Kyle Marcelli reeled off an impressive 1:14.848 lap time in the newly re-badged No. 89 Oreca FLM09 to out run the No. 36 Genoa Racing machine of Dane Cameron by 0.433 seconds.
The pole marked Marcelli's second straight in ALMS competition, but under difficult circumstances. Co-driver David Ducote was transported by helicopter to Atlanta Medical Center following the morning's accident, which destroyed the team's original No. 89 car.
Ducote was reported to have been awake and alert and moving all of his extremities following the impact, but no further medical update has been released.
It no doubt gave Marcelli extra incentive to take the pole.
"The guys worked so hard getting the car prepared for qualifying," Marcelli said. "For me, it was a little bit difficult mentally getting into a car that virtually had been just rebuilt. But I just had to do my job. I trust our engineers and staff. They did a great job. I just had to get to work."
Cameron held the pole for most of the 15-minute session but had to settle for second. Nonetheless, it was an impressive effort for the London Project-backed effort, which currently doesn't have a starting position in tomorrow's race.
Ryan Lewis put the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 in third.
BMW appeared to had been en route to its eighth class pole of the year until the closing moments of GT qualifying, as Gimmi Bruni laid down a blazing 1:18.699 lap time with less than two minutes remaining.
It was enough to give the rapid Italian and AF Corse the pole, the second consecutive in combined ALMS/ILMC competition for driver and team.
AF Corse celebrated a double-pole in GT and GTE-Am. (Photo: John Dagys)
"It's been very good," Bruni said. "My engineer went on the radio and said, 'You're only one-tenth behind the BMW.' I was pushing but he said that he was sure I could find one-tenth... It was a challenge but good. The car was really good. The tires helped us a lot for sure too."
The newly crowned Le Mans Series champion outran the No. 55 BMW M3 GT of Dirk Werner by 0.087 seconds. The No. 56 BMW of Dirk Muller, who recently clinched the ALMS drivers' championship with Joey Hand, was a further four-tenths behind in third.
Risi Competizione's Ferrari, in the hands of Jamie Melo, clocked in the fourth quickest time with a 1:19.247, while Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca winners Flying Lizard Motorsports completed the top-five.
The top-nine in GT were separated by 0.920 seconds.
Rui Aguas put his Michael Waltrip Racing-backed AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT on the GTE-Am class pole. The Portuguese ace, who has been the driver to beat all week long, turned a time of 1:20.619 lap time, edging out the No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari of Nic Jonsson by 0.261 seconds.
It marked an all-Ferrari front row in class and a double pole for the Amato Ferrari-owned squad in both GT and GTE-Am.
"For us, it's great," said Aguas, who will share the wheel with MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman and SPEED's Justin Bell. "We had a few problems in the beginning before qualifying. For me and Gimmi, it's wonderful to be on pole and represent the team and Ferrari like that."
In GTC, Jeroen Bleekemolen scored the class pole, thanks his 1:24.543 lap time in the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Porsche. Bleekemolen, who could help co-driver Tim Pappas clinch the championship with a solid finish on Saturday, narrowly edged out the No. 66 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Spencer Pumpelly by a mere 0.053 seconds.
TRG teammate Dion Von Moltke wound up third in the No. 68 machine with a 1:24.844 lap time.
The 14th annual Petit Le Mans, the final round of the American Le Mans Series season and penultimate race of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, will take the green flag tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. ET.
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