Will the fourth time be the charm for Lucas Luhr? Audi's German factory driver certainly hopes so.
Luhr earned his fourth career pole position at Road America on Friday and was the fastest overall qualifier for the Generac 500 presented by Time Warner Cable. His lap of 1:46.935 (136.277 mph) gave him a 0.41-second margin over Andretti Green Racing's Franck Montagny.
Luhr hasn't won from pole position at Road America after three previous fast qualifiers. On Friday his time was 0.73 seconds faster than Allan McNish's qualifying record from last year of 1:47.665 (135.353 mph).
Saturday's four-hour race will allow us to see Luhr and Marco Werner go for their fourth overall victory of the season and sixth straight win in P1. They comfortably lead the class championship by 58 points over Audi teammate Emanuele Pirro, who qualified third overall and second in P1 at 1:47.579 (135.461 mph).
He will drive with newcomer Marcel Fässler in the second R10 TDI. Intersport Racing's Jon Field qualified the AER-powered Lola B06/10-AER third in class and eighth overall at 1:48.371 (134.471 mph).
Back in P2, Acura swept the front row for the third straight race as Montagny won his first Series pole position. He will make his third start with his third different teammate - James Rossiter - in the AGR Acura ARX-01b.
Montagny's time of 1:47.345 (135.757 mph) bested Romain Dumas' class record from last year by 1.488 seconds and McNish's 2007 lap, as well.
Former Road America Champ Car standout Adrian Fernandez qualified second in class and fourth overall in the Acura that he will drive with Luis Diaz.
Oliver Gavin earned his 17th career Series pole position and third at Road America with a lap of 2:01.235 in the Corvette C6.R that he will drive with Olivier Beretta.
Gavin and Beretta have won the last three GT1 championships but have captured just one victory this season (St. Petersburg) and are on favorable ground. They won together here in 2004, 2005 and 2007.
The Corvette squad also has its eyes on the future. Gavin said there were adjustments and developments targeted for next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Corvette has won five times in class since 2000.
In GT2, Tafel Racing's Dirk Mueller won his first Series pole position in seven years. His lap of 2:06.083 was 1.108 seconds under Jamie Melo's previous class record from 2007. In fact, the four quickest cars were under last year's pole time.
Luhr earned his fourth career pole position at Road America on Friday and was the fastest overall qualifier for the Generac 500 presented by Time Warner Cable. His lap of 1:46.935 (136.277 mph) gave him a 0.41-second margin over Andretti Green Racing's Franck Montagny.
Luhr hasn't won from pole position at Road America after three previous fast qualifiers. On Friday his time was 0.73 seconds faster than Allan McNish's qualifying record from last year of 1:47.665 (135.353 mph).
Saturday's four-hour race will allow us to see Luhr and Marco Werner go for their fourth overall victory of the season and sixth straight win in P1. They comfortably lead the class championship by 58 points over Audi teammate Emanuele Pirro, who qualified third overall and second in P1 at 1:47.579 (135.461 mph).
He will drive with newcomer Marcel Fässler in the second R10 TDI. Intersport Racing's Jon Field qualified the AER-powered Lola B06/10-AER third in class and eighth overall at 1:48.371 (134.471 mph).
Back in P2, Acura swept the front row for the third straight race as Montagny won his first Series pole position. He will make his third start with his third different teammate - James Rossiter - in the AGR Acura ARX-01b.
Montagny's time of 1:47.345 (135.757 mph) bested Romain Dumas' class record from last year by 1.488 seconds and McNish's 2007 lap, as well.
Former Road America Champ Car standout Adrian Fernandez qualified second in class and fourth overall in the Acura that he will drive with Luis Diaz.
Oliver Gavin earned his 17th career Series pole position and third at Road America with a lap of 2:01.235 in the Corvette C6.R that he will drive with Olivier Beretta.
Gavin and Beretta have won the last three GT1 championships but have captured just one victory this season (St. Petersburg) and are on favorable ground. They won together here in 2004, 2005 and 2007.
The Corvette squad also has its eyes on the future. Gavin said there were adjustments and developments targeted for next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Corvette has won five times in class since 2000.
In GT2, Tafel Racing's Dirk Mueller won his first Series pole position in seven years. His lap of 2:06.083 was 1.108 seconds under Jamie Melo's previous class record from 2007. In fact, the four quickest cars were under last year's pole time.