Tom Blomqvist left it until right at the end, but indeed he delivered. His 1:14.674 with three minutes remaining in the session would secure pole for Sunday’s TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks. For Blomqvist, it’s his seventh career IMSA pole and first of this season. “The car has been quick since we hit the track,” Blomqvist says. “Fantastic start to the weekend…Tomorrow we got to focus on the job…a shorter race, a little less things to worry about from a strategic element. But we still need to execute perfectly.”
So far, he and Meyer Shank Racing have been firing on all cylinders being at or near the top in every session. A win tomorrow with the program nearing its end would be a massive result.
Drivers’ points leader Jack Aitken qualified second with his Cadillac three tenths adrift on Blomqvist’s pace. Dries Vanthoor rounds out the top three with the BMW Team WRT M Hybrid four tenths off the pole time.
LMP2: Clarke Comes Up Big
Down in LMP2, Jeremy Clarke keeps InterEuropol’s perfect weekend intact with his fourth pole of the season. Like Blomqvist, Clarke also left his flying lap for late. His 1:17.555 pole lap came with two and a half minutes remaining in the session. Doubtedly, the performance of the session has to go to Daniel Goldburg. With him set to lose his fastest lap due to the No. 22 causing a red flag in practice, Goldburg went to work. Before Clarke dethroned him, Goldburg had set the fastest time. Despite losing his fastest lap of 1:17.600, his second best lap of 1:17.713 was still good enough for second on the grid. Get in there, Danny. PJ Hyett and reigning LMP2 champs AO Racing rounded out the top 3.
GT Qualifying Cancelled
Due to lightning in the area around the time when qualifying was set to start, IMSA made the decision to cancel qualifying for both GTD and GTD PRO. Per the rulebook, those grids will be set by the points standings. This means Paul Miller Racing inherits pole position in GTD PRO in their No. 1 BMW as they seek to maintain their championship advantage. The No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports will start second and the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini will start third.
Over in GTD, the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes will lead the field to green alongside the No. 96 Turner Motorsports BMW. The No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin will start third in class.
The GT classes will be interesting to watch as teams that have not been at the pointy end of the table throughout the weekend will be starting up front for tomorrow’s final regular round of the season. Strategy and tactics will be interesting to watch as some fast cars will be working their way from the back to the front.
The field goes green at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon at 3:10pm local time.
Full Qualifying Results: CLICK HERE
Headline Photo: Tom Blonqvist and the No. 60 Acura crew celebrating the Motul Pole Award – Photo Courtesy: Honda Racing USA
