Twelve Hours of Sebring qualifying has resulted in Cadillac V-Series.R lock out the front row with the #1 entry featuring Kiwi Scott Dixon to start from second.
It was their teammates who took top spot as Brazilian driver Pipo Derani put in a 1:45.836 to top the time of Dixon’s co-driver Sebastien Bourdais by just 0.087 seconds.
“It was a great day for Cadillac,” said Bourdais following qualifying. “We had just a tiny bit of understeer, but I think it was very close with the laps times and everything. We’ve got a really solid race car, so we’re all looking forward to the grueling 12 hours ahead.
“Obviously, a lot of it will be about keeping your nose clean, making sure that you execute and don’t run into any trouble. This Cadillac and Chip Ganassi Racing team is excited, and we’ll see where we end up.”
Ricky Taylor put his team’s Acura in third , two tenths off the pace, with the first of the Porsche starting fourth a further three tenths back.
Tom Blomqvist could only manage fifth fastest next to the first of two BMWs, whilst the second Porsche starts seventh despite a late crash at Turn 1 for Australian Matt Campbell.
Scott McLaughlin is competing in the LMP2 class with Tower Motorsport with co-driver John Farano given the reigns for qualifying. He managed sixth in class for the Oreca LMP2 07 to start from grid spot 14.
Jaxon Evans is the other Kiwi in the field, racing a Porsche 911 GT3 R for Kellymoss and Riley Motorsport in GTD. They’ll start 14th in a 20-strong field.
A massive 12 hours of racing is what follows next, beginning at 3.10am tomorrow.
Header image: Chip Ganassi Racing
