Tom Blomqvist won the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship pole position for the second consecutive year at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, qualifying first in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 for the first time since the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Blomqvist, who shares the car with Colin Braun, turned a lap around the 10-turn, 2.459-mile track in 1 minute, 5.653 seconds. Wayne Tayor Racing’s Ricky Taylor (1:05.734) made it an all-Acura front row for the Chevrolet Grand Prix (Sunday, noon ET, NBC, Peacock).
“It was a bit of a messy run, to be honest,” Blomqvist told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch after his fifth career pole position in IMSA. “I made a small mistake on my push lap. Luckily, the car’s been fantastic. It’s been difficult for me to drive. Colin’s been really on it. in qualifying I generally can piece things together.
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“The guys have done a fantastic job so far. I’m really excited for tomorrow. Colin’s been rapid. I’m really confident for the race.”
Blomqvist and Braun teamed with MSR IndyCar drivers Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves to win the Rolex 24 from the pole position, but the victory was tainted by a massive postrace penalty that was issued a month later.
In the four races since then, the No. 60 has struggled in the Grand Touring Prototype category and posted only one podium finish (a third in the June 25 race at Watkins Glen International that the team inherited after a penalty to the No. 6 Porsche).
“No secret we’ve had a really tough year this year, so this is a testament to Acura and all the folks at HPD,” team co-owner Mike Shank told NBC Sports’ Matt Yocum. “Certainly Tom doing a blistering lap. it’s been really tough. We like to see things pay off. Every person on the team has never given up. We keep producing a great car for Acura. What’s what we’re hired to do. We intend to try to win tomorrow.”
Cadillacs swept the second row in qualifying, followed by the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport.
Here are the pole-sitters in other categories for the race on the 10-turn, 2.459-mile road course::
LMP3: Gar Robinson, No. 74 Riley Ligier JS P 320, 1:12.946
GTD PRO: Jack Hawksworth, No. 14 Vasser Sullivan, Lexus RC F GT3, 1:15.029
GTD: Roman De Angelis, No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3, 1:15.478
QUALIFYING
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
