Guy Smith and Bill Auberlen have put their respective cars on pole of their respective class at the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix of Lime Rock.
Guy Smith clocked his fastest lap in 44.017s in his Dyson Racing's Madaza-powered Lola coupe, the car he shares with Chris Dyson, and took his first pole of the season by doing so.
"We have struggled this year; it has been an uphill battle," admitted Smith. "After the Monterey round (in May, team owner) Rob Dyson said we need to knuckle down and put in the work. We've worked for the last seven weeks and tested and tested and tested.
Lucas Luhr, in the P1 rival Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03a, took second with a lap of 44.119s.
In GT, Bill Auberlen flew to pole position in his BMW Team RLL M3 GT, which means he will start his 100th ALMS race first. Corvette's Oliver Gavin follows in third, and then comes Team RLL's second car, driven DTM racer Joey Hand and Dirk Müller.
"We rolled off the truck really strong," Auberlen said. "We were really strong the first session and got better in the second. Qualifying went green and we banged a good lap out."
P2 pole went to Level 5 Motorsports' Christophe Bouchut, driving an HPD ARX-03b.
Canadian Kyle Marcelli (ORECA FLM09) shined in the LMPC class, taking a pole of his own for CORE autosport.
Alex Job's Racing Leh Keen (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) took care of the GTC category.
Qualifying results* – ALMS (Lime Rock Park)
1. Dyson/Smith (Lola B12/60-Mazda) - Dyson - 44.017s
2. Luhr/Graf (HPD ARX-03a) - Pickett - 44.119
3. Tucker/Bouchut (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 46.539s
4. Marsal/Lux (Lola B11/66-Mazda) - Dyson - 46.552s
5. Tucker/Diaz (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 47.007
6. Plowman/Hansson (Morgan-Judd) - Conquest - 47.072s
7. Marcelli/Downs (Oreca FLM09) - Merchant - 47.249s
8. Junqueira/Drissi (Oreca FLM09) - RSR - 47.482s
9. Dempsey/Foster (Lola B12/86-Mazda) - Dempsey - 47.992s
10. Leitzinger/Dobson (Oreca FLM09) - PR1 - 48.033s
11. Popow/Kimber-Smith (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - 48.134s
12. Bennett/Braun (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - 48.137s
13. Richard/Ende (Oreca FLM09) - Dempsey - 48.726s
14. Mueller/Auberlen (BMW M3) - Rahal - 50.920
(...)
*Unofficial results
Guy Smith clocked his fastest lap in 44.017s in his Dyson Racing's Madaza-powered Lola coupe, the car he shares with Chris Dyson, and took his first pole of the season by doing so.
"We have struggled this year; it has been an uphill battle," admitted Smith. "After the Monterey round (in May, team owner) Rob Dyson said we need to knuckle down and put in the work. We've worked for the last seven weeks and tested and tested and tested.
Lucas Luhr, in the P1 rival Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03a, took second with a lap of 44.119s.
In GT, Bill Auberlen flew to pole position in his BMW Team RLL M3 GT, which means he will start his 100th ALMS race first. Corvette's Oliver Gavin follows in third, and then comes Team RLL's second car, driven DTM racer Joey Hand and Dirk Müller.
"We rolled off the truck really strong," Auberlen said. "We were really strong the first session and got better in the second. Qualifying went green and we banged a good lap out."
P2 pole went to Level 5 Motorsports' Christophe Bouchut, driving an HPD ARX-03b.
Canadian Kyle Marcelli (ORECA FLM09) shined in the LMPC class, taking a pole of his own for CORE autosport.
Alex Job's Racing Leh Keen (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) took care of the GTC category.
Qualifying results* – ALMS (Lime Rock Park)
1. Dyson/Smith (Lola B12/60-Mazda) - Dyson - 44.017s
2. Luhr/Graf (HPD ARX-03a) - Pickett - 44.119
3. Tucker/Bouchut (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 46.539s
4. Marsal/Lux (Lola B11/66-Mazda) - Dyson - 46.552s
5. Tucker/Diaz (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 47.007
6. Plowman/Hansson (Morgan-Judd) - Conquest - 47.072s
7. Marcelli/Downs (Oreca FLM09) - Merchant - 47.249s
8. Junqueira/Drissi (Oreca FLM09) - RSR - 47.482s
9. Dempsey/Foster (Lola B12/86-Mazda) - Dempsey - 47.992s
10. Leitzinger/Dobson (Oreca FLM09) - PR1 - 48.033s
11. Popow/Kimber-Smith (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - 48.134s
12. Bennett/Braun (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - 48.137s
13. Richard/Ende (Oreca FLM09) - Dempsey - 48.726s
14. Mueller/Auberlen (BMW M3) - Rahal - 50.920
(...)
*Unofficial results