Ferrari takes pole in a hot GT battle

Ferrari’s Davide Rigon and Sam Bird have taken GT pole position for tomorrow’s 6 Hours of COTA, the headline event of the Lone Star Le Mans weekend at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.

In blistering temperatures, the AF Corse duo set an average best time of 2:03.057 to take their third LMGTE Pro pole position in the No.71 Ferrari 488 GTE.  The time eclipsed last year’s GT pole position at the track by 1.5 seconds, and all LMGTE Pro entrants were under the 2016 time.

The next chapter in the Ferrari v Ford battle was played out in qualifying, with the No.67 Ford GT of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell claiming second.  Just one tenth of a second behind was the No.95 Aston Martin Vantage of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen.

In LMGTE Am, Paul Dalla Lana and Pedro Lamy reigned supreme, recording their fifth pole position of the season with a time of 2:06.031, an impressive 1.2 seconds ahead of the No.54 Spirit of Race Ferrari in second place.  

Before the big race gets set to roar into action at 12:00 noon tomorrow, all fans are free to enter the grid to get up close to the stars and cars.  They will enjoy seeing the majestic sight of a WW2 B25 Mitchell bomber flying overhead in the minutes before the green flag drops.

•    LMGTE Pro pole position sealed by Davide Rigon and Sam Bird as they take 2nd consecutive pole position for No.71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE with    average lap time of 2:03.057
•    Rigon sets fastest overall lap for second qualifying session in a row with 2:02.993 best
•    Importantly the Ferrari pair only use one set of tyres during the session as they plan for tough track conditions in tomorrow’s race
•    The Prancing Horse beats home race heroes Ford by just 0.199s
•    Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell start in second place as the points leaders just miss out on extra point in No.67 Ford GT
•    Aston Martin Racing make it three manufacturers in the top three positions as No.95 Vantage of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen claim third
•    No.98 Aston Martin takes second consecutive COTA pole as Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana alliance takes top spot with combined 2:06.031s
•    Spirit of Race Ferrari line-up in second position with Thomas Flohr and Miguel Molina 1.2 seconds adrift
•    Weng Sun Mok and Matt Griffin ensure that Clearwater Ferrari start 3rd as they look to reduce points gap to Dempsey Proton and Aston Martin in title standings

All the results from qualifying can be found HERE or in more detail HERE