By American Le Mans Series
Racing at home never felt so good for David Brabham and Dirk Werner. Brabham scored his fifth overall pole position and Werner his first class pole in qualifying Friday for the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.
Brabham's lap of 46.696 (115.642 mph) came on his final flying lap around the new 1.51-mile, 10-turn layout as Acura swept the front row with its ARX-01b entries. The young Frenchman Simon Pagenaud turned a time of 47.082 (114.694 mph).
Just 0.843 seconds separated the top nine cars. Patrick Long qualified Penske Racing's first Porsche RS Spyder third on the grid at 47.177 (114.463 mph).
The top seven cars were the lighter, more nimble P2 cars that were able to maneuver around Lime Rock more efficiently than the bigger LMP1 entries. Audi's Emanuele Pirro qualified on the P1 pole in the Audi R10 TDI that he will drive with Dindo Capello.
Pirro's lap of 47.403 (113.917 mph) was 0.136 seconds better than Lucas Luhr in the other diesel-powered Audi. Luhr will drive with Marco Werner, the pairing that leads the class championship and have won the last three LMP1 races. This week marks Pirro's first Series race with Capello despite both coming to Audi 15 years ago.
Corvette Racing's Oliver Gavin took his first career Lime Rock pole position but 15th of his career. Gavin's lap of 52.792 (102.288 mph) was 0.247 seconds ahead of Jan Magnussen in the sister Corvette C6.R. Lime Rock has been good to Gavin and teammate Olivier Beretta over the years. The duo has won three times in four starts since 2004.
Werner gave Farnbacher Loles its first pole position in the American Le Mans Series with a lap of 54.154 (99.716 mph) in the team's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Werner will team with Richard Westbrook for the first time this weekend, which already has gotten off to a fantastic start.
The Porsche qualified 0.566 seconds ahead of Risi Competizione's Mika Salo in the best of the Ferrari F430 GTs. Salo and Jaime Melo are coming off a class victory at Le Mans with Gianmaria Bruni. Next was Tafel Racing's lead Ferrari of Dirk Mueller at 54.824 (98.497 mph) in the entry he will drive with Dominik Farnbacher.
Bell Motorsports' Aston Martin DBR9, returning to competition for the first time since a crash at St. Petersburg in April, did not qualify after a crash in Friday's second practice session.
American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix; Friday's qualifying:
Pos Drivers Car(Class) Time Speed
1. Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 46.696, 115.64
2. Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Simon Pagenaud, France; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 47.082, 114.69
3. Marco Werner, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 47.104, 114.64
4. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 47.177, 114.46
5. Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 47.240, 114.31
6. Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 47.264, 114.25
7. Franck Montagny, Brignoles France; Marco Andretti, Nazareth, PA; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 47.313, 114.13
8. Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 47.325, 114.10
9. Dindo Capello, Italy; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 47.403, 113.92
10. Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 47.651, 113.32
11. Ben Devlin, England; Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, FL; Lola B07/46-Mazda MZR-R (P2), 49.251, 109.64
12. Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 52.792, 102.29
Racing at home never felt so good for David Brabham and Dirk Werner. Brabham scored his fifth overall pole position and Werner his first class pole in qualifying Friday for the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.
Brabham's lap of 46.696 (115.642 mph) came on his final flying lap around the new 1.51-mile, 10-turn layout as Acura swept the front row with its ARX-01b entries. The young Frenchman Simon Pagenaud turned a time of 47.082 (114.694 mph).
Just 0.843 seconds separated the top nine cars. Patrick Long qualified Penske Racing's first Porsche RS Spyder third on the grid at 47.177 (114.463 mph).
The top seven cars were the lighter, more nimble P2 cars that were able to maneuver around Lime Rock more efficiently than the bigger LMP1 entries. Audi's Emanuele Pirro qualified on the P1 pole in the Audi R10 TDI that he will drive with Dindo Capello.
Pirro's lap of 47.403 (113.917 mph) was 0.136 seconds better than Lucas Luhr in the other diesel-powered Audi. Luhr will drive with Marco Werner, the pairing that leads the class championship and have won the last three LMP1 races. This week marks Pirro's first Series race with Capello despite both coming to Audi 15 years ago.
Corvette Racing's Oliver Gavin took his first career Lime Rock pole position but 15th of his career. Gavin's lap of 52.792 (102.288 mph) was 0.247 seconds ahead of Jan Magnussen in the sister Corvette C6.R. Lime Rock has been good to Gavin and teammate Olivier Beretta over the years. The duo has won three times in four starts since 2004.
Werner gave Farnbacher Loles its first pole position in the American Le Mans Series with a lap of 54.154 (99.716 mph) in the team's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Werner will team with Richard Westbrook for the first time this weekend, which already has gotten off to a fantastic start.
The Porsche qualified 0.566 seconds ahead of Risi Competizione's Mika Salo in the best of the Ferrari F430 GTs. Salo and Jaime Melo are coming off a class victory at Le Mans with Gianmaria Bruni. Next was Tafel Racing's lead Ferrari of Dirk Mueller at 54.824 (98.497 mph) in the entry he will drive with Dominik Farnbacher.
Bell Motorsports' Aston Martin DBR9, returning to competition for the first time since a crash at St. Petersburg in April, did not qualify after a crash in Friday's second practice session.
American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix; Friday's qualifying:
Pos Drivers Car(Class) Time Speed
1. Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 46.696, 115.64
2. Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Simon Pagenaud, France; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 47.082, 114.69
3. Marco Werner, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 47.104, 114.64
4. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 47.177, 114.46
5. Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 47.240, 114.31
6. Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 47.264, 114.25
7. Franck Montagny, Brignoles France; Marco Andretti, Nazareth, PA; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 47.313, 114.13
8. Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 47.325, 114.10
9. Dindo Capello, Italy; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 47.403, 113.92
10. Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 47.651, 113.32
11. Ben Devlin, England; Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, FL; Lola B07/46-Mazda MZR-R (P2), 49.251, 109.64
12. Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 52.792, 102.29