Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA
Qualifying report

Detroit IMSA: Taylor error hands pole to Fittipaldi

Christian Fittipaldi will start tomorrow’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Belle Isle from P1, after Ricky Taylor crashed his WTR Cadillac DPi-V.R and prevented IMSA from fulfilling the required 10 minutes of green-flag qualifying time.

#5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi: Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi

#5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi: Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi

Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Ricky Taylor had set the fastest time in the session before plowing the barrier at Turn 4, bringing out the red flag at the seven-minute mark. IMSA rules decree that any car that causes the abandonment of qualifying will be placed at the back of its category on the grid.

With the Prototype class grid set by team points, it left Action Express Racing Cadillacs of Fittipaldi/Joao Barbosa and Dane Cameron/Eric Curran monopolizing the front row, followed by the JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA LMP2 car of Misha Goikhberg/Stephen Simpson and the #2 Tequila Patrón Nissan DPi of Scott Sharp/Ryan Dalziel.

Ricky and Jordan Taylor, who have won the first four races of the IMSA season, will start 12th.

In the absence of the GT Le Mans category, the GT Daytona drivers earned some prominence and rewarded spectators with a tight battle for preeminence in qualifying.

In the end, it was Lawson Aschenbach who on his final lap delivered the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole for Audi since 2015. His 1min30.2sec effort in his Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS is a GTD track record and came on his final lap.

He needed that late flyer to beat Katherine Legge who turned in a quick final lap in the Michael Shank Racing-run #93 Acura NSX GT3. Her teammate Ozz Negri didn’t set a time having crashed the second NSX in practice.

Bryan Sellers placed his Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán in third, while fourth went to Change Racing’s similar machine, piloted by Corey Lewis. Scott Pruett completed the top five in GTD driving 3GT Racing’s Lexus RC F GT3.

James French took Prototype Challenge pole for Performance Tech, but although Tomy Drissi qualified second in the BAR1 Motorsports ORECA FLM09, he’ll start behind his teammate Don Yount after a ride height violation.

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Austin IMSA: Taylors dominate, Corvette wins decimated GTLM class
Next article Detroit IMSA: Taylors take fifth straight victory

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA