Turner Motorsport’s Cameron Lawrence won the pole Friday (June 2) for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic with a lap at 77.680 mph. Saturday’s 100-minute race will be the first street race for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge since Trois-Rivieres in 2010, when the series was known as the Grand-Am Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.
Lawrence won the pole by .150 seconds over Rennsport One’s Eric Filguerias, who set a quick lap in the closing minute of the session. McCumbee-McAleer Racing’s Jenson Altzman will start third, followed by Murillo Racing’s Kenny Murillo and Van der Steur Racing’s Rory van der Steur.
Michael di Meo qualified the new Thaze Competition Mercedes in sixth, then Motorsports In Action’s Alex Filsinger. NOLAsport’s Adam Adelson was eighth, while TeamTGM’s Hugh Plumb and Ave Motorsports’ Alfredo Najri rounded out the top 10.
The new Detroit circuit has been treacherous. The opening INDYCAR practice session had no less than six red flags in 90 minutes. Michelin Pilot Challenge practice was no different as a bunch of drivers ended up in the various runoff areas.
In qualifying, Turner Motorsport’s Vin Barletta ran into trouble early on in turn 1, but resumed. Later, Murillo Racing’s Jeff Mosing had issues in turn 2 that brought out the red flag just over a third of the way into the session.
At the time of his incident, Mosing was in the top 10. By the time the session ended, he was able to improve his time, but ended up 11th. However, IMSA rules state that you lose your two fastest laps if you bring out a red flag. As a result, Mosing will start 15th.
At the time of the red flag, van der Steur was quickest in his Aston Martin. In the first lap back at speed once the green came back out. Adelson put his Porsche on top.
Lawrence went to work at that point, setting down a series of quick laps to put himself nearly a second ahead of the field. He ultimately ended up with the fastest time in all three individual sectors during the session, but they didn’t all come on the same lap.
Even after the checkered flag flew, there were still issues. Najri and Archangel Motorsports’ Todd Coleman ended up in the turn 1 runoff after finishing their laps.
IMSA MICHELIN SPORTSCAR CHALLENGE CHEVROLET DETROIT SPORTS CAR CLASSIC QUALIFYING RESULTS
The Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic is scheduled to go green at 4:10 p.m. ET Saturday. The race will air live on Peacock.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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