Jack Aitken earned his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole position for his last race with Pipo Derani, who offered some valuable advice to his Whelen Action Express teammate.
“It’s just special to follow in this man’s footsteps, he’s the king of pole positions,” Aitken told NBC Sports’ Matt Yocum about Derani. “It’s a lot of pressure to follow in his footsteps. He gave me some good advice before the session: Put it in the gravel or put it on pole. I took the better option.”
Aitken turned a 1-minute, 9.639-second lap in the No. 31 Cadillac VSeries.R around Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to qualify first for the Petit Le Mans season finale. The 10-hour endurance race will begin Saturday at noon ET on the 12-turn, 2.54-mile road course north of Atlanta.
“I was going 110 percent,” said Aitken, who will be joined by Derani and Tom Blomqvist in Saturday’s race. “This is the kind of track you need to commit. It’s a little bit scary sometimes, but it’s a lot of fun. I don’t think I could have gotten more out of it. It was a lot of fun.”
It’s the third pole position for the team at Road Atlanta but the first without Derani behind the wheel. The Brazilian, who won his second chamiponship in three years last season for Action Express, announced his impending departure two months ago but has yet to reveal his plans for 2025.
STARTING GRID: Click here for the Petit Le Mans starting grid l Click here by rows l Click here by car number
Matt Campbell, who co-drives with Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron, qualified second (1:09.709) in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, which can clinch the 2024 Grand Touring Prototype championship with a ninth place or better. The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 qualified third.
Nick Tandy qualified eighth (1:10.212) in the No. 6 963, which is ranked second in the championship standings at 124 points behind its Porsche Penske Motorsport teammate.
In other categories:
—LMP2: Ben Keating scored his first pole position since the Rolex 24 at Daytona season opener, qualifying first in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA 07 with a 1:12.739 lap. Keating will co-drive with Ben Hanley and Nico Pino as the team seeks its second victory this season.
—GTD Pro: Laurin Heinrich qualified the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R on the pole position with a class track-record lap of 1:17.881. The team and Heinrich, who co-drives with Michael Christensen and Julien Andlauer, can clinch the championship with a finish of third or better.
—GTD: Scott Andrews, who co-drives with Salih Yoluc and Rui Pinto de Andrade, turned a 1:18:281 lap in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to take the top spot in qualifying.
IMSA PETIT LE MANS QUALIFYING
Starting lineup
Starting lineup by car number
Results
Results by class
Fastest lap by driver
Fastest lap by driver after qualifying
Fastest lap by driver and class after qualifying
Best sector times
Fastest lap sequence
Time cards
Weather report
PRACTICE SPEEDS: Session I l Session II l Session III