BRASELTON, Ga. — Cadillac Racing has been at the head of all its Motul Petit Le Mans starts since 2017 – finishing first or second in each – and is well-positioned to do the same from the front of the grid for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship curtain-closer.
Jack Aitken turned the wick up in Friday’s Grand Touring Prototype qualifying session at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, lapping the 2.54-mile, 12-turn track in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R with a best time of 1 minute, 9.639 seconds (131.305 mph).
Aitken’s flyer – a track record for the GTP class – came on his eighth lap, as he noted a gradual improvement over the life of the tire stint and a particularly strong balance through Sector 1, the uphill and fast-paced Turn 1.
“Generally, throughout the year, we have done our (fastest) laps later. I think we beat this one by less than a 10th,” Aitken said. “We were in the window and I eked what we could out of it.”
It’s the first Motul Pole Award of Aitken’s career and the team’s fourth as co-driver Pipo Derani won the first three of the year, and Cadillac’s sixth in nine races. Third driver Tom Blomqvist joins in the team’s pursuit of victory on Saturday, as he seeks his third consecutive Motul Petit Le Mans win.
Aitken was the fastest of five cars in the 1:09 bracket in the 11-car field. The top five, including four of the five GTP manufacturers, qualified within 0.356 seconds.
Matt Campbell came up just adrift of Aitken in his No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, 0.070 seconds in arrears. Campbell serves as the third driver in support of championship leaders Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron, who entered the weekend with a 124-point gap on teammates Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet in the sister No. 6 car.
With Tandy qualifying eighth in the car he shares with Jaminet and Kevin Estre, the gap grows to 133 points heading into the race. The No. 7 Porsche can now clinch the title with a ninth-place finish or better.
BMW M Team RLL will roll off third with its No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 qualified by Connor De Phillippi and shared by Nick Yelloly and Maxime Martin.
In its final race with Cadillac, the Chip Ganassi Racing-prepared No. 01 entry – adorned in a one-off pink livery this weekend for Breast Cancer Awareness Month – qualified fourth with the best of the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 cars, the No. 10 car with Filipe Albuquerque at the wheel, in fifth.
Call him “bookend” Ben. After scoring the Motul Pole Award at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, Ben Keating added his second of the year in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA 07 in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) qualifying.
Keating’s time of 1:12.739 (125.709 mph) puts him and co-drivers Ben Hanley and Nico Pino at the head of the 10-car class as the team seeks its second win of the year.
“I barely got the pole at Daytona. I haven’t got a pole since. It’s so competitive among the gentlemen drivers in this field,” Keating said.
“I’ve never driven a P2 car that was as hooked up as this one today. I was able to carry more speed through the corners and put the throttle down more out of them. It’s a lot of fun to drive a good car.”
Keating beat Steven Thomas, his longtime qualifying sparring partner, by 0.234 seconds. Thomas and co-drivers Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea seek back-to-back triumphs in their No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA 07 after winning at Indianapolis last month.
Championship leader Nick Boulle rolls off fourth in his No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, the car he shares with Tom Dillmann and Jakob Smiechowski.