CarBahn Motorsports through Peregrine Racing’s Sean McAlister won pole position on Thursday afternoon (January 25) for the BMW M Endurance Challenge, the season-opening IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. McAlister’s lap of 113. 575 mph is a new record for the Pilot Challenge at Daytona, but it’s pretty close.
Smooge Racing’s Bubba Wallace was fastest early on with teammate John Geesbreght close behind as drivers teamed up in order to get the best draft. They were then usurped by the two Turner Motorsport BMWs led by Francis Selldorff.
However, the CarBahn Motorsport team with Peregrine Racing prevailed. The black, grey and green BMW had already been fastest in both practice sessions. Here McAlister outdid himself with his fastest lap, which was just four-tenths of a second. faster than your most productive lap in relaxed practice.
McAlister pitted with five minutes left and let the rest of the box take their knees. However, no one was able to get the BMW out of pole.
McAlister’s lap was .803 seconds faster than TeamTGM’s Owen Trinkler. Hattori Motorsorts’ Jack Hawksworth will start third, then Motorsrports In Action’s Jesse Lazare and Selldorff.
Wallace ended up 20th at the end of the session. However, teams cannot touch the cars during the session for any reason. One of the Smooge Racing crewmembers touched Wallace’s No. 23. As a result, all of Wallace’s times were invalidated and he will have to start the race Friday from the rear of the Grand Sport class.
In TCR, Groupe Montréal Motorsports has shown to the ROAR ahead of the 24th that it will be strong. The qualification was no other for the Canadian team.
Karl Wittmer put his No. 93 Honda Civic Type-R TCR on provisional pole at the start of the session, followed strongly by teammate Louis-Phillippe Montour. Later, it was the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport car of champion protector Harry Gottsacker that took the lead. .
Gottsacker’s lap of 109. 766 mph was enough to bring the reigning champion to the pits with five minutes remaining. Wittmer followed soon after.
None of the other 15 drivers in the category will be able to prevent Gottsacker from taking pole in the category. He finished 0. 299 seconds ahead of Gou Racing’s Wittmer. Gou will start third in his Audi, followed by Julian Santero in Hyundai’s Victor Gonzalez. Racing Team. HART’s Chad Gilsinger will start fifth.
In addition to the problems with Wallace’s No. 23, three other groups posted a while. VGRT No. 99 car and JDC-Miller MotorSports No. 17 were allowed to qualify because they handed over their knowledge keys to IMSA officials. Meanwhile, Aston Martin’s Skip Barber Racing School retired after Ken Fukuda crashed into the Le Mans chicane right at the end of the second practice session on Thursday morning.
The BMW M Endurance Challenge will go green at 1:45 p. m. ET on Friday afternoon. The race will air on Peacock starting at 1:40 p. m.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He’s the manager of the site’s FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site’s Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press secretary for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, New York. He covers all the action on the steep track, from regular DIRTcar Modified races to occasional visits from traveling series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.