Heat and clouds greeted IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT teams for late afternoon qualifying at Lime Rock Park, and when it was over, Gimmi Bruni and the Porsche GT Team went fastest overall while setting the field for Saturday’s 2h40m Northeast Grand Prix.
The Italian, who joined the German manufacturer after years of representing Ferrari, took the first pole this season for the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR, and his first pole for the team, after waging a back-and-forth battle with Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s Richard Westbrook.
Bruni’s best (50.404s) was just enough to knock the No. 67 Ford GT down to second (+0.136s), and kept the sister No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Dirk Muller down in third (+.202s).
“We tried our best, worked very hard, and tried the best compromise for qualifying,” Bruni told IMSA Radio. “Very happy to have my first pole for Porsche in my first time out qualifying for them.”
Porsche is the only full-time entrant in GTLM without a win this season. Asked if he had a plan on how to hold onto his pole once the green flag waves over the field of 25 cars, Bruni’s answer was a succinct “Go full gas!”
In GT Daytona, Madison Snow scored his second career pole in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 (52.508s). The 21-year-old American held off a pair of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs driven by countrymen Colin Braun and Pat Long.
Braun shadowed Snow with his No. 54 CORE autosport entry (+0.191s) but managed to put a bit of distance between his Lamborghini and Long’s No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche (+0.328s).
“It was a great time,” said Snow, who turned his 2016 GTD pole into a victory at VIR. “We’re going to try to do it again, but it’s a long race.”
Driving for the PMR team and earning pole so close to its array of auto dealerships in New Jersey was another accomplishment for Snow, who downplayed the result.
“There’s always a little extra push, and we want to do well here, but it’s not like we push harder because it’s a home track,” he said.
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