PWC Virginia: Skeen takes hard-fought SprintX pole
Mike Skeen claimed pole position for the opening SprintX round of the Pirelli World Challenge at Virginia International Raceway.
Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images
After a thrilling battle for pole position, which saw five drivers in the top spot during a mesmerising battle, Skeen snatched it in final seconds before the checkered flag fell with a lap of 1m42.989s in the McCann Racing Audi R8 he will share this weekend with Andrew Davis.
Patrick Long set the early pace with 1m43.507s in his Porsche 911, which was topped by Skeen’s early effort of 1m43.488s.
Audi’s Pierre Kaffer then snatched P1 with 1m43.427s, before Alex Riberas (Ferrari 488) grabbed it with 1m43.381s.
Ryan Dalziel looked to have sealed the pole for Mercedes with 1m43.268s, but Skeen rose back to P2, then took the top spot with just moments of the session remaining.
Dalziel was forced to settle for second, 0.108s down but 0.198s clear of third-placed Daniel Mancinelli’s Ferrari 488. Kaffer slipped to fourth quickest, ahead of Riberas, Long and the first of the Cadillacs of Michael Cooper.
Alvaro Parente could only manage ninth in his McLaren.
Courtney grabs GTS pole for Maserati
French single-seater ace Nico Jamin looked set for the GTS class pole with a lap of 1m55.151s in his ANSA-run KTM Xbow, which was 0.175s clear of Rodrigo Baptista’s Porsche Cayman. But with just over a minute remaining Jeff Courtney wrested it away by just 0.007s – with a lap of 1m55.144s in his JCR Motorsports Maserati GT4.
The KTM Xbows of Anthony Mantella and Martin Barkey were split by a last-ditch effort from Lawson Aschenbach’s GT4 Chevy Camaro, who grabbed fifth. Behind Barkey in sixth came Jason Bell’s SIN R1 and Ian James in the lone Panoz Avezzano.
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
How Senna’s early Pacific GP exit raised his Benetton suspicions
Why MotoGP’s COTA thriller was just what Liberty wanted to see
How a Brazilian F1 pioneer lifted Lotus after Rindt's tragic loss
St Pete PWC: Mancinelli grabs shock GT pole
Kaffer, Pumpelly sign for Magnus Racing
Audi aims to repeat 24-hour victory at the Nürburgring
Hamilton: Ferrari F1 switch doesn't need "vindicating"
Mercedes F1 junior Pin joins the FRECA grid
Antonelli completes maiden Mercedes F1 test
The story behind Shanghai's "painted" F1 track surprise
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments