Tom Blomqvist wins pole for Acura’s swansong on Saturday for Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Prior to the Acuras taking over, Laurin Heinrich would be top of the table at the halfway mark. Blomqvist would then take pole, but briefly would lose out to Sheldon van der Linde in the WRT BMW. Following Blomqvist’s response to take pole back, teammate Nick Yelloly breaks 1:10 with five minutes to go. Blomqvist, as he did all session, rose to the occasion once more with a 1:09.703 to take pole for good. Van der Linde starts third for BMW.
Critically, Jack Aitken held it late to go fourth quickest in his Cadillac. Laurin Heinrich could only manage seventh in the session. With this four-point swing in qualifying, Aitken enters race day with a 151-point advantage over Heinrich. Significantly, all Jack Aitken has to do is start tomorrow’s Petit Le Mans to clinch the 2026 GTP driver’s championship.
LMP2: ‘Rocky’ Flying to Pole for AO
A major mistake for points leader Jeremy Clarke could have costed him his fifth pole of the season. On his second flying lap, Clarke locked his up tires entering Turn 10 and had to abandon a very strong lap. His banker lap would be enough to stand at the top, but not for long. In the middle portion of the session, PJ Hyett put in three straight flying laps to go top and stay there. His 1:12.944 set with six minutes go would hold for pole position in their “Rocky” the Pegasus livery.
Despite the flat spot, Clarke set a 1:13.167 to maintain second position. Misha Goikberg would qualify third for Bryan Herta Autosport by PR1 Mathiasen. George Kurtz would qualify fifth for Crowdstrike by APR. From a points perspective, InterEuropol now leads Crowdstrike by 10 going into race day. AO overtakes United for third with AO now 101 back and United 105 behind.
GTD PRO: Verhagen’s Pace Unmatched
Neil Verhagen dropped the hammer on the first round of flying laps. Behind Verhagen, second place would switch hands from Nicky Catsburg to Jordan King in #77, to the #68 Aston Martin with Mattia Drudi back to Catsburg. With three minutes to go, Verhagen would reset his benchmark lap to 1:18.194. Catsburg would retake second only to lose it again to Drudi in the final minute.
Verhagen takes Paul Miller’s second pole of the season and tightens the points up to Catsburg and Tommy Milner. With the #4 Corvette starting third, the points gap is now 42 going into race day. Pfaff Motorsport did not do themselves favors, qualifying eighth. Pfaff enters race day sixty points out the lead, but very much in the fight.
GTD: Ellis Delivers Winward Critical First Pole of the Season
With every point counting, pole qualifying for GTD would be vital. The usual start of the session would see the rotating cast of characters taking their turn at top of the timesheets. Six minutes in, it would be Philip Ellis in the points-leading Winward Racing #57 Mercedes turning a 1:18.674. Antonio Fuoco would make his stake, but fell short in second with a 1:18.835 in the #21 Ferrari for AF Corse USA. Aaron Telitz rounds out the top-3 with the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus with a 1:18.833.
The session was ended prematurely with three minutes remaining. Brendan Iribe in the #70 Inception Ferrari ran into the back of Adam Addelson with the #120 Wright Motorsport Porsche off-line entering Turn 10. While Addelson made it back to the pits, Iribe was not as fortunate. The Ferrari was stuck in the gravel trap with heavy front damage. The AMR Safety team would rescue the stricken Ferrari. Iribe loses his two fastest laps and the team has a long night of repair ahead.
For the remaining championship contenders, Robby Foley was fifth for Turner Motorsport. Right behind him in sixth in Zacharie Robichon for Heart of Racing Aston Martin. After qualifying, Winward now leads Turner by 15 going into raceday. Dudu Barichello and Heart of Racing’s hole is now deeper, starting the race 126 points behind.
Green flag for the 29th Motul Petit Le Mans is at 12:10pm local time on Saturday.
Headline Photo: The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura – Photo Courtesy: Meyer Shank Racing
PETIT LE MANS 2026 COVERAGE || PROTOTYPE PREVIEW | GT PREVIEW | PRACTICE 1 | PRACTICE 2 | PRACTICE 3 | THURSDAY NOTEBOOK | QUALIFYING | FRIDAY NOTEBOOK | HOURS 1-2 | HOURS 3-5 | HOURS 6-8 | POST-RACE | SATURDAY NOTEBOOK | CONNOR DE PHILIPPI | WINWARD RACING | PETIT LIVERIES | DOONAN | PFAFF | HAWKSWORTH
