ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Nick Yelloly won the overall pole Saturday (Aug. 1) for the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America with a lap at 133.410 mph in his Acura. It is Yelloly’s second pole of the year.
“I felt like I did the [tire pressure] buildup well and got two laps that were really decent, particularly the second one that we really executed well,” Yelloly said afterwards. “Very happy for the whole crew at MSR and HRC. Let’s race tomorrow.”
Yelloly ended up .157 seconds faster than teammate Tom Blomqvist. BMW M Team WRT’s Sheldon van der Linde will start the Spiderman: Brand New Day entry in fourth, while Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Laurens Vanthoor put his Porsche 917/30 throwback No. 6 fifth on the grid.
Early on, Yelloly was quickest in his Acura. The No. 93 Acura was fastest overall during Practice No. 1 in the dry Friday as part of a Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian one-two.
The Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillacs were able to go toe-to-toe with Yelloly early on, but the future Ford factory racer would beat them back. He ultimately took the lead for good with a lap at 132.802 mph.
A lap later, Yelloly improved by a full half-second. That was enough to give him the overall pole.
In LMP2, CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s George Kurtz was the first driver out onto the track. He ultimately set the pace for the entire first half of the session.
Eventually, Inter Europol Competition’s Jeremy Clarke went to the top of the chart with a lap at 126.482 mph. He then improved on his next lap.
As the session continued, Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports’ Misha Goikhberg came to the front, as did United Autosports’ Dan Goldburg. Ultimately, Goldburg ended up with the class pole with a lap at 127.594 mph.
Goldburg’s lap was .262 seconds faster than Goikhberg. Clarke will start third, then AO Racing’s PJ Hyett. Kurtz was fifth.
GTD Pro was dominated by Porsche. For much of the session, Manthey Racing’s Klaus Bachler was able to put his 911 on the provisional pole and seemed dominant.
However, AO Racing’s Harry King was able to overtake him. Shortly afterwards, the quickest lap by Bachler was invalidated due to a track limit violation.
King was able to improve his time with a little more than a minute to go to 117.483 mph. That time ultimately held up to take the pole.
King was fastest by .140 seconds over Paul Miller Racing’s Neil Verhagen. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Alexander Sims was third, then RLL Team McLaren’s Max Esterson. Bachler had to settle for fifth.
In GTD, teams were a little careful early on as the last of the water on-course dried up. Despite the mostly dry conditions, many of the drivers were still using their windshield wipers.
YRB Racing’s Valentin Hasse-Clot was trying to keep the good times coming for his team after their Pilot Challenge victory and put up a big number. He was in the mix early on, along with AF Corse’s Lilou Wadoux and The Heart of Racing’s Zacharie Robichon.
With just over four minutes to go, Winward Racing’s Russell Ward went to the top of the order with a lap at 116.813 mph. However, Wadoux came back and put herself on pole with a lap at 116.874 mph.
Wadoux ended up on pole by .167 seconds over Robichon. Hasse-Clot will start third, then DragonSpeed’s Casper Stevenson. Turner Motorsport’s Patrick Gallagher was fifth. Ward’s quick time, which would have been good enough for second, was ultimately invalidated due to his car failing to adhere to controlled powertrain parameters that are set by IMSA. As a result, he will start sixth.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix Qualifying Results
The Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix is scheduled to go green at 11:40 a.m. ET Sunday afternoon. Coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. ET Sunday on Peacock.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email 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 Frontstretch 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.