AUSTIN, Texas — Oscar Tunjo is two-for-two in pole positions in IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge action, but even he had to admit his Friday pole in the No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. Duqueine D08 at Circuit of The Americas was a surprise.
At the track where Tunjo made his first IMSA start of 2025 with Gebhardt, the Colombian set a best lap of 2:00.060 (101.948 mph) on his seventh and final flying lap of the Grand Prix full length 3.4-mile COTA circuit, as opposed to the shorter National Course that IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge competitors raced in both 2025 and 2026.
Tunjo emerged on top after a back-and-forth battle with Titus Sherlock, who received a late call-up to join the No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325 earlier this week filling in for Lincoln Day.
The No. 95 Ligier topped all three practice sessions, including the 15-minute session added immediately prior to qualifying when the track conditions were most representative of what teams would face in the 15-minute dash for pole.
As it was, gray, overcast skies greeted competitors for qualifying Friday afternoon with temperatures having climbed significantly from morning practice (it had been 64 degrees ambient and 75 track to start Practice 2, while qualifying began at 75/95).
That made nailing setups difficult, and so Tunjo was surprised to extract what he did in the session. Nonetheless on his final lap, he finished 0.081 of a second ahead of Sherlock.
“I’m very happy to get a pole here; it’s a great place to start,” Tunjo said. “We struggled a little bit more now in the higher temperatures compared to this morning, but happy to get it at the end. We like the cooler temperatures and the car handles better. But we’re happy to get a good result.”
Tunjo will share his car with Valentino Catalano, while Sherlock will share with Wyatt Brichacek. Sherlock is still bullish on his and Brichacek’s chances in the third generation Ligier chassis compared to the second generation Duqueine.
“This morning I felt quite comfortable but fought it quite a bit (in qualifying with some oversteer,” he explained. “I think we’ll be good in the race. I think we can take the lead and pull away.”
With both drivers having run the National Course earlier this year, they extolled getting to run COTA’s full-length track by comparison.
“It’s so much fun,” Tunjo smiled. “This track like this is a proper one. I’m happy to get the chance with the long straight, the full esses.”
Sherlock added, “It’s a good track and you’ve got another passing chance as now you have a bit longer straight in the back.”
Travis Hill qualified third, best among Bronze Cup-classified entries, in the No. 2 Shopify Racing Ligier JS P325 he shares with Nicole Havrda.
Toney’s second car, the No. 30 Ligier JS P325 of Ari Balogh and Garett Grist, was fourth ahead of the debuting No. 17 Crown Racing Ligier JS P320 of Brady Clapham and Chris McMurry.
