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ALMS: Klaus Graf tops Road America qualifying (+results)

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Antoine Cremer
Having qualified on pole, Klaus Graf together with his Muscle Milk Pickett Racing teammate Lucas Luhr, will be trying to win two in a row at Road America.

Graf clocked the best lap of the qualifying session, putting the team's HPD ARX-03a in a familiar starting spot. Beside him however, will not be Chris Dyson nor Guy Smith, Grad and Luhr's usual rivals who drive the No. 16 Lola-Mazda of Dyson Racing. The pair was forced out of the session by gearbox problems.

So it was left to the team's sister car, the No. 20 driven by Eric Lux to take second in class.

The GT battle saw a unprecedented 1-2 result for Flying Lizard, Marco Holzer having crushed the track record on way to pole, followed by Jörg Bergmeister in the sister Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 0.013 seconds behind. Bergmeister was on par with Holzer until the very end of the session, making it an even more satisfying result for the team.

Oliver Gavin posted the third fastest lap aboard his Corvette Racing No. 4 C6 ZR1.

In P2, Martin Plowman shined, netting his second pole position of the season in his very first appearance at Road America. Last time the Conquest Endurance Racing driver bested Level 5 Motorsport's two entries, it was at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, where he took his first victory together with co-driver David Heinemeier-Hansson.

Canadian Kyle Marcelli put on show in PC qualifying, topping heavy hitters such as two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans-winner Tom Kimber-Smith, former Champ Car star Bruno Junqueira and last round's winner Marino Franchitti.

Jeroen Bleekemolen, standing in for Leh Keen as Cooper MacNeil's teammate at Alex Job Racing took pole in the GTC class.



Qualifying results* – ALMS (Road America)
1. Luhr/Graf (HPD ARX-03a) - Pickett - 1'50"191

2. Marsal/Lux/Burgess (Lola B11/66-Mazda) - Dyson - 1'53"392
3. Plowman/Hansson (Morgan-Judd) - Conquest - 1'54"218
4. Tucker/Bouchut (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 1'54"407

5. Tucker/Diaz (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 1'55"977
6. Marcelli/Ducote/French (Oreca FLM09) - Merchant - 1'57"172

7. Popow/Kimber-Smith/Bennett (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - 1'57"790
8. Junqueira/Gonzalez (Oreca FLM09) - RSR - 1'57"829
9. Dempsey/Foster (Lola B12/86-Mazda) - Dempsey - 1'58"150

10. Franchitti/Junco (Oreca FLM09) - PR1 - 1'58"230

11. Downs/Downs/Downs (Oreca FLM09) - Merchant - 1'59"498
12. Richard/Ende (Oreca FLM09) - Dempsey - 1'59"874
13. Neiman/Holzer (Porsche 997) - Flying
14. Lizard - 2'04"415
14. Bergmeister/Long (Porsche 997) - Flying Lizard - 2'04"428
15. Gavin/Milner (Corvette ZR1) - Corvette - 2'04"871

16. Mueller/Auberlen (BMW M3) - Rahal - 2'04"913
17. Magnussen/Garcia (Corvette ZR1) - Corvette - 2'04"921
18. Sharp/Van Overbeek (Ferrari 458) - Extreme Speed - 2'04"994
19. Mueller/Summerton (BMW M3) - Rahal - 2'05"098
20. Henzler/Sellers (Porsche 997) - Falken - 2'06"640

21. Sweedler/Bell (Lotus Evora) - Alex Job - 2'07"177
22. Miller/Maassen (Porsche 997 Cup) - Miller - 2'07"182
23. Wittmer/Farnbacher (SRT Viper) - SRT - 2'08"556

24. Goossens/Kendall (SRT Viper) - SRT - 2'09"609

25. Brown/Cosmo (Ferrari 458) - Extreme Speed - 2'10"588
26. MacNeil/Bleekemolen (Porsche 997 Cup) - Alex Job - 2'12"773
27. LeSaffre/Faulkner (Porsche 997 Cup) - Green Hornet - 2'12"804

28. Huisman/Wong (Porsche 997 Cup) - Green Hornet - 2'13"339
29. Benitez-Benitez (Porsche 997 Cup) - NGT - 2'14"020

30. Pumpelly/DiGuida (Porsche 997 Cup) - TRG - 2'14"039

31. Cumming/Ragginger (Porsche 997 Cup) - JDX - 2'14"717
32. Faieta/Avenatti (Porsche 997 Cup) - Competition - 2'14"744
33. Sofronas/Welch (Porsche 997 Cup) - GMG - 2'14"891
34. Bennett/Braun (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - no time

35. Dyson/Smith (Lola B12/60-Mazda) - Dyson - no time

*Unofficial


Antoine Cremer
Antoine Cremer
Automotive expert