David Brabham took the at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Friday with a record-breaking run in Patrón Highcroft Racing's Acura ARX-01b.
Brabham's time of 1:10.103 (114.928 mph) put the Acura prototype that he will share with Scott Sharp out front for the start of the season's final race.
Acura swept the front row with Luis Diaz and the Lowe's Fernandez Racing entry only 0.099 seconds behind Brabham.
Diaz will drive with Adrian Fernandez as Acura put itself in position to capture the LMP2 manufacturer championship over Porsche in just its second year in the Series.
It needs to sweep the podium to take the title.
Timo Bernhard qualified third for Penske Racing with a lap of 1:10.351 (114.523 mph) in the Porsche RS Spyder that he will drive with Romain Dumas.
The duo clinched the class driving championship two weeks ago at Road Atlanta. Part of the reason was Patrón Highcroft's retirement after a crash in the race's opening hour of the 1,000-mile race.
The top eight cars were LMP2 cars, which have an advantage on the twisty circuit. Audi Sport North America's Emanuele Pirro was the fastest LMP1 driver in the Audi R10 TDI that he will share with newcomer Christijan Albers. Pirro's time of 1:11.264 (113.056 mph) outpaced teammate Lucas Luhr by 0.561 seconds.
Saturday's race will be Pirro's final in an Audi prototype. Audi is the only manufacturer for which he has competed in the American Le Mans Series and has been a part of Audi Sport for 15 years.
Jan Magnussen added another bullet on his championship résumé with his second GT1 pole position in three events.
Corvette Racing's Danish ace set a class record with a lap of 1:19.291 in the Corvette C6.R that he again will share with Johnny O'Connell. Magnussen's lap was 0.499 seconds better than teammate Oliver Gavin in the sister Corvette.
Dirk Werner took his second GT2 pole of the season for Farnbacher Loles Racing and Porsche. The young German set a class record with a lap of 1:22.060 in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR that he will drive with Bryce Miller.
The pairing teamed with Richard Westbrook to win at Road America in August, a four-hour race just like Saturday's.
Brabham's time of 1:10.103 (114.928 mph) put the Acura prototype that he will share with Scott Sharp out front for the start of the season's final race.
Acura swept the front row with Luis Diaz and the Lowe's Fernandez Racing entry only 0.099 seconds behind Brabham.
Diaz will drive with Adrian Fernandez as Acura put itself in position to capture the LMP2 manufacturer championship over Porsche in just its second year in the Series.
It needs to sweep the podium to take the title.
Timo Bernhard qualified third for Penske Racing with a lap of 1:10.351 (114.523 mph) in the Porsche RS Spyder that he will drive with Romain Dumas.
The duo clinched the class driving championship two weeks ago at Road Atlanta. Part of the reason was Patrón Highcroft's retirement after a crash in the race's opening hour of the 1,000-mile race.
The top eight cars were LMP2 cars, which have an advantage on the twisty circuit. Audi Sport North America's Emanuele Pirro was the fastest LMP1 driver in the Audi R10 TDI that he will share with newcomer Christijan Albers. Pirro's time of 1:11.264 (113.056 mph) outpaced teammate Lucas Luhr by 0.561 seconds.
Saturday's race will be Pirro's final in an Audi prototype. Audi is the only manufacturer for which he has competed in the American Le Mans Series and has been a part of Audi Sport for 15 years.
Jan Magnussen added another bullet on his championship résumé with his second GT1 pole position in three events.
Corvette Racing's Danish ace set a class record with a lap of 1:19.291 in the Corvette C6.R that he again will share with Johnny O'Connell. Magnussen's lap was 0.499 seconds better than teammate Oliver Gavin in the sister Corvette.
Dirk Werner took his second GT2 pole of the season for Farnbacher Loles Racing and Porsche. The young German set a class record with a lap of 1:22.060 in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR that he will drive with Bryce Miller.
The pairing teamed with Richard Westbrook to win at Road America in August, a four-hour race just like Saturday's.