IMSA starting lineup: Filipe Albuquerque turned a lap of 1 minute, 14.441 seconds Saturday at WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway, securing the first pole of his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career.
It’s the third time that Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 had qualified first this season with teammate Ricky Taylor taking the pole twice at Watkins Glen International.
Albuquerque’s 108.230 mph broke the DPi track record (107.373) in qualifying for Sunday’s Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship at the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course in Monterey, California.
IMSA AT LAGUNA SECA: Details for Sunday’s race
STARTING LINEUP: Sunday’s grid l By car number
“Such an iconic track; super happy about it,” Albuquerque said. “Starting in P1 at this track is super important, not only for the championship points, but for the run down to Turn 1. It’s important to be on the inside because starting on the outside can be really tricky. I’m happy for the team, they did an amazing job.
“We are on it. But still, this is just ten percent of the weekend. Tomorrow is the most important part. We need a clean race. No mistakes. And grab the opportunity with a fast car.”
With three races remaining this season, Albuquerque and Taylor have the points lead over the Action Express Whelen Engineering Racing duo of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani, who qualified fifth in the No. 31 Cadillac DPi.
The Meyer Shank Racing duo of Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla qualified second as Acuras swept the front row. Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 01 Cadillac of Renger van der Zande & Kevin Magnussen qualified third, followed by the No. 55 Mazda of Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell.
Here were the top qualifiers in other classes:
–LMP2: Ben Keating, Mikkel Jensen, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports No. 52 ORECA LMP2 07
–GTLM: Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R
–GTD: Patrick Long, Trent Hindman, No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
Click here for the starting grid in the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship at Laguna Seca and here for the starting grid by number.
QUALIFYING
Click here for the DPi And LMP2 results
Click here for GTLM results/GTD points
Click here for the GTD results
PRACTICE