News
Qualifying
The
Unlike many of his rivals in the fiercely contested GTLM class, Bamber initially waited at the start of the qualifying in the hopes of benefiting from improved track conditions and less traffic. The New Zealander, who shares driving duties with Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Mathieu Jaminet (France), made optimal use of the grip in bright sunshine and high temperatures. Over the course of the 15-minute session on the famous Road Atlanta racetrack, Pilet was able to improve significantly. In the end, the Frenchman was just 0.160-seconds shy of his factory driver colleague. Pilet is joined in the cockpit of the No. 911
In the GTD category, customer teams did not take part in the hunt for pole position. Timothy Pappas turned many laps in the ca. 500 hp
The race takes off on Saturday, 13 October, at 11.05 hrs local time (17.05 hrs CEST). The final round of the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship can be viewed live outside the USA and Canada on www.imsa.com.
Qualifying quotes
Pascal Zurlinden (Director GT Factory Motorsport): “The qualifying ran better than expected. During the session, the temperatures were the highest of the weekend so far. Under these conditions it was obvious that we lacked some speed over the lap compared to our rivals. However, this means very little for a race over ten hours. We’re well prepared to tackle Petit Le Mans, especially if the temperatures drop towards the end of the race.”
Patrick Pilet (
Earl Bamber (
Qualifying result
GTLM class
1. Krohn/Edwards/Mostert (FIN/USA/AUS), BMW M8 GTE, 1:17.006 minutes
2. Magnussen/Garcia/Fässler (DK/E/CH), Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 1:17.030
3. Vanthoor/Bamber/Jaminet (B/NZ/F),
4. Briscoe/Westbrook/Dixon (AUS/GB/USA), Ford GT, 1:17.220
5. Tandy/Pilet/Makowiecki (GB/F/F),
6. Hand/Müller/Bourdais (USA/D/F), Ford GT, 1:17.383
7. Sims/De Phillippi/Auberlen (GB/USA/USA), BMW M8 GTE, 1:17.428
8. Milner/Gavin/Fässler (USA/GB/CH), Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 1.17.451
9. Vilander/Molina/Bertolini (FIN/E/I), Ferrari 488 GTE, 1:17.774
GTD class
1. MacNeil/Serra/Jeannette (USA/BRA/USA), Ferrari 488 GT3, 1:19.659 minutes
2. Hawksworth/Heinemeier/Rayhall (GB/DK/USA), Lexus RC F GT3, 1:19.732
3. Mies/Morad/van der Linde (D/CAN/RSA), Audi R8 LMS GT3, 1:19.744
13. Henzler/Pumpelly/Pappas (D/USA/USA),
14. Long/Nielsen/Renauer (USA/DK/D),
Full results are available on: http://results.imsa.com
All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.