Pipo Derani maintained his pole position prowess, qualifying the No. 31 Cadillac in first for the second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race and the second year in a row at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
“It is a good start, but it’s a long race,” said Derani, who also was on the pole for the Rolex 24 at Daytona (where the No. 31 finished second).
The Whelen Action Express driver, who is teamed with Jack Aitken and Tom Blomqvist, is vying to win his second consecutive overall at Sebring and his fifth overall win at the storied track.
STARTING GRID: Click here for the Twelve Hours of Sebring lineup l By car number
Derani, who won from the pole at Sebring last year, turned a 1-minute, 48.152-second lap to top the No. 01 Cadillac driven by Sebastien Bourdais (1:48.299), who also qualified second last year.
Louis Deletraz qualified the No. 40 Acura third in the Grand Touring Prototype category. The 15-minute qualifying session was interrupted by a long red flag, leaving just over 4 minutes for the field to turn a fast lap.
It’s the 25th career pole in IMSA’s premier class for Cadillac Racing, which also is trying to win the Twelve Hours of Sebring for the fourth consecutive year.
In the GTP debut for Lamborghini, Matteo Cairoli qualified the No. 63 Iron Lynx SC63 in eighth.
Here are the pole-sitters in other categories for the endurance race classic on the 17-turn, 3.74-mile road course:
LMP2: PJ Hyett, No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07, 1:52.142
GTD Pro: Jack Hawksworth, No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, 1:58.714
GTD: Philip Ellis, No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, 1:58.778
SEBRING QUALIFYING ROUNDUP
Twelve Hours of Sebring starting lineup
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
PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Session III
