Pipo Derani has put the Whelan Cadillac Racing V-Series.R he shares with Jack Aitken and Kiwi Tom Blomqvist on pole for tomorrow’s 12 Hours of Sebring.
The Brazilian’s late flying time of 1:48.152 earned him the top spot, bettering Chip Ganassi’s Cadillac Racing entry, shared by Scott Dixon, Renger van der Zande, and Sebastien Bourdais, who qualified the car, by 0.114 seconds.
Wayne Taylor Racing’s #40 Acura ARX-06, shared between Jordan Taylor, Louis Delatraz and Colton Herta, will start from third, next to the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Phillip Eng, Jesse Krohn and Augusto Farfus.
Brendon Hartley’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti #10 Acura ARX-06, shared with Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque, had set the fastest time of the session of 1:48.038 at the hands of Taylor. However, that time would be invalidated after extra work was performed on the car under a red flag.
The team will start from the rear of the grid in 57th.
The red flag was caused when the #6 Penske Porsche 963 crashed at Turn 1 with four minutes left in the session. Matheiu Jaminet was driving at the time and lost control as his right rear went over the kerbing, sending the car nose-first into the barriers.
Their sister car, the #7 Porsche Penske 963 of Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr and Australia’s Matt Campbell, will start from fifth, next to JDC-Miller Motorsports’ 963 of Tijmen van der Helm, Richard Westbrook and Phil Hanson.
Hunter McElrea’s TDS Racing team will start from eighth of the LMP2 competitors, from grid 15. AO Racing’s Oreca 07 will start from the front of the class from grid eight, with PJ Hyett, who is sharing his drive with Paul-Loup Chatin and Australia’s Matthew Brabham, qualifying the car.
Earl Bamber’s Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Chevrolet Corvette z06 GT3.R will start from 34th on the grid as the eighth-best GTD Pro entry.
The 12 Hours of Sebring begins at 2.40 am on Sunday and will be shown live on Sky Sport Popup 1.