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Filipe Albuquerque Wins IMSA Road America Pole

Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Global’s Filipe Albuquerque won the pole Saturday (Aug. 3) for Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend race with a lap at 134.187 mph. It is Albuquerque’s first pole of 2024.

“The car was brilliant,” Albuquerque told NBC Sports’ Chris Wilner after the session. “When I did my best lap, I thought, ‘This is it. I cannot go faster.’ I tried one more [in desperation], but I was two or three-tenths off.”

Albuquerque’s lap was .262 seconds faster than teammate Jordan Taylor. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Renger van der Zande will start third, then Proton Competition’s Gianmaria Bruni. Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani will start fifth in his Cadillac.

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Dane Cameron was fastest early on in the session. Then, he had an off-course excursion in the Carousel that saw him blast through the gravel and eventually, the grass. Luckily, Cameron did not hit anything. It did cost him some speed and he’ll start ninth.

Albuquerque was fastest overall in the first practice session Friday, so he appeared to have a fair amount of pace. However, that lap was in the 111-second bracket.

During qualifying, Albuquerque put himself on top with a lap in the 109-second bracket. That was the beginning. Albuquerque continued to improve and set what ended up being the pole lap on his sixth lap at speed.

The BMW M Team RLL No. 24 did not set a time in the session. That is because Jesse Krohn crashed the car exiting the Kink towards the end of Practice No. 2 Saturday morning. The car could not be repaired in time for qualifying.

LMP2 saw Inter Europol Competition with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Nick Boulle lead the pack early on. However, AO Racing’s PJ Hyett quickly put “Spike” on the provisional pole.

United Autosports’ Ben Keating crashed his Wynn’s-sponsored entry during Practice No. 2 Saturday morning. Just being able to qualify at all required a substantial amount of repairs for his ORECA 07-Gibson. With no laps on the repaired car, Keating was able to turn in the third fastest time on his first lap at speed.

Hyett continued to improve his time. His second lap at speed dipped into the 113-second bracket. With a minute to go, he set a lap at 128.126 mph. That was good enough for Hyett to take his fourth straight LMP2 pole.

Hyett’s lap was .372 seconds faster than Keating, who set a quick lap late to take second. Dan Goldburg was third in the second United Autosports entry, then Boulle. Richard Mille AF Corse’s Luis Perez Companc will start fifth in class.

In the GT ranks, it took quite a while for drivers to get themselves up to speed. It was more than a third of the session before truly representative times were set.

GTD Pro saw Nicky Catsburg put the No. 4 Corvette for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports on top early on. That was usurped first by The Heart of Racing’s Alex Riberas, then by Giacomo Altoe, who is making his debut with Conquest Racing.

On the next time by, Catsburg was able to put himself back on top with a lap at 119.256 mph. That lap withstood the other teams to give Catsburg the class pole.

Catsburg’s lap was .194 seconds faster than teammate Alexander Sims. Altoe will start third in class, then Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth, who had just crashed barely an hour earlier in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race. Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ Mike Rockenfeller was fifth.

See also
Trent Hindman, Stevan McAleer Score 2nd Straight Pilot Challenge Win

In GTD, The Heart of Racing’s Zacharie Robichon was quick in his Aston Martin. However, Korthoff Preston Motorsports’ Mikael Grenier set a lap with five minutes to go at 117.870 mph. The lap was good enough to win the class pole.

Grenier’s lap was .130 seconds faster than Robichon. Triarsi Competizione’s Onofrio Triarsi will start third in his IMSA sprint race debut. Turner Motorsport’s Patrick Gallagher was fourth, while Winward Racing’s Russell Ward was fifth.

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship IMSA SportsCar Weekend Qualifying Results

The IMSA SportsCar Weekend race is scheduled to go green at 3:10 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon. The only live coverage of the race is due to begin at 3 p.m. ET 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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