A thrilling fight for overall pole at the 20th edition of Petit Le Mans fell in favor of Helio Castroneves and Team Penske on Friday at Road Atlanta.

The Brazilian, who made a statement in his return to the event after concentrating on IndyCar since 2009, helped establish a new bar for the rest of the Prototype class ahead of Acura Team Penske’s arrival in 2018 with the ARX-05 DPis.

“First of all, thanks to Team Penske for this opportunity,” said the three-time Indy 500 winner, who pushed the No. 6 ORECA 07-Gibson (1m11.314s) to a close pole over the Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Onroak DPis.

“[Race engineer] Joathan Diuguid knew exactly what I wanted. I had a big shunt here a week ago, to bring it back was good. It was a great team effort. Once I figured out what I need to do. Man, it was awesome. The car was on rails.”

Nissan’s Pipo Derani (+0.161s) and Brendon Hartley (+0.185s) will look to apply pressure from the outset of the 10-hour contest.

Risi Competizione’s Toni Vilander captured his second consecutive class pole in the No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTE (1m17.660s). Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s Richard Westbrook came impossibly close (+0.045s) to starting first for the Blue Oval, but settled for second in his No. 67 GT.

“They keep adding weight to us, we keep pushing harder,” said the Vilander, whose car received an additional 33 pounds of ballast by IMSA after its recent pole in Monterey. “Every time the car feels better and better, and I feel like I’m getting more out of the car. I’m looking forward to the race.”

UPDATE: The No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing GT failed the post-qualifying technical inspection measurement for minimum ride height, and has been moved to the back of the class.

Antonio Garcia was third in his Corvette Racing C7.R (+0.054s) in a class where the top five were covered by only 0.071s.

The two factory teams competing in GT Daytona led the way in their final qualifying sessions of the year until Scuderia Corsa’s Matteo Cressoni spoiled their plans in the waning moments of the session. Michael Shank Racing’s Andy Lally held pole in the No. 93 Acura NSX GT3 until the Italian put in a stellar lap with the No. 63 Ferrari 488 GT3 (1m20.661s) which barely edged Lally (+0.078s) and 3GT Racing’s Jack Hawksworth in the No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 (+0.137s).

“What I can say?” Cressoni asked. “The car was fantastic, the team did an amazing job. Now we are immediately focused on the race.”

Performance Tech Motorsports captured another pole with ease, giving the No. 38 PC pole at every race this season, barring Sebring, where Gustavo Yacaman spoiled their chance at a perfect season. In tomorrow’s race, however, James French, Pato O’Ward, and Kyle Masson can seal an unblemished season if they win PC’s swansong in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“It was excellent out there, the car was absolutely hooked up,” said French, who put 1.1 seconds between himself and the two other PCs in the class. “It’s exactly where we want to start next year, on pole.”

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