Derani claims IMSA Long Beach pole with Cadillac straight – Motorsport Week

Pipo Derani claimed the GTP spot for the Long Beach Grand Prix after setting the fastest time of 1:11.388 in the damaged #31 Wehlen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R.

The Brazilian driver claimed his third consecutive pole position after winning all qualifying sessions so far this year in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, although it wasn’t a straight trip ahead of the first race.

Given the tight nature of the Long Beach Street Circuit, this proved one of the most important qualifying rides of the season with two 15-minute sessions in each category.

Lap times split the drivers up and down the 27-car field during the two free practice sessions so far and so track evolution played a part in keeping the times alive in qualifying.

The GTP saw the use of a softer Michelin tire compound which gave the drivers the opportunity to turn faster times in the warmer and better track conditions.

Due to a hybrid failure, the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R delayed their qualifying session as Sebastien Bourdais headed for a lap inside the final five minutes of the GTP session.

GTP sparked an early battle between Derani, the Porsche Penskes and the #40 WTRandretti Acura of Jordan Taylor, as both set the fastest and fastest times.

Derani, on the provisional pole, immediately touched his #31 Cadillac in the Turn 9 tire barrier in the final minutes of the session, after locking up in a corner, before quickly turning the slightly damaged Cadillac.

Meanwhile, Bourdais in another Cadillac finished third despite a late exit in the session.

In between the two was BMW RLL’s Nick Yelloly in his #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 just nine thousandths from the pole position time.

Fourth place went to the #6 Porsche Penske 963 of Nick Tandy with a 1:11.629, followed by teammate #7 of Dane Cameron who ran a 1:11.741.

In the end, more than six-thirds of a second covered the top-nine cars in the GTP field as Derani claimed his third consecutive position this year.

More specifically for this GTD qualifying session, teams were given a free choice on which driver could take over qualifying duties.

Drama came for the Gradient Racing outfit in their #66 Acura NSX GT3 as they did not compete due to an engine change.

This will keep them hidden at the back of the grid for the start of the race while giving them free choice as to which driver will start the race.

The #55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang had a spin at Turn 5 in the hands of Giammarco Levorato, but he continued without any contact with the walls during his turn.

As the times ticked away, the two Lexus RC F GT3s driven by Vasser Sullivan showed impressive speed as they held the top GTD times with Parker Thompson (#89) up – by pace – compared to Frankie Montecalvo (#12).

Finally, Vasser Sullivan completed a 1-2 with Thompson taking the stage with a 1:17.357, as Montecalvo clocked a lap time of 1:17.619.

Albert Costa Balboa put the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 in third place after setting a lap time of 1:17.679 on the board, followed by Roman De Angelis #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 at 1:17.725.

Danny Formal finished fifth in GTD with a 1:17.814 in his #45 WTRandretti Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

Take a look here for the full qualifying classification from IMSA qualifiers for the Grand Prix of Long Beach.