As Motorsport.com reports, Tom Blomqvist delivered a masterclass at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to secure pole position for Acura Meyer Shank Racing's swansong in the Motul Petit Le Mans. Behind the wheel of the #60 Acura ARX-06, Blomqvist unleashed an electric flying lap of 1m09.703s across the 12-turn, 2.54-mile natural terrain road course. It was a stunning piece of driving on a big weekend.
That pace put him right at the head of a front-row lockout for the team, with Nick Yelloly slotting the #93 Acura sister car into second place, though a sizable 0.222s adrift. BMW M Team WRT’s Sheldon van der Linde rounded out the top three after a strong showing.
Down in the GTP title battle, championship leader Jack Aitken inched significantly closer to his first crown by qualifying fourth. He initially vaulted to fifth in Whelen Cadillac’s #31 Cadillac V-Series.R following a mid-session switch to fresh tires and a gritty closing run. That position improved when the No. 6 Porsche 963, qualified by Laurens Vanthoor, was dropped from fourth to fifth due to a penalty stemming from an incident involving Kevin Estre in Friday night practice. With title rival Laurin Heinrich qualifying seventh in the #7 Porsche 963, Aitken now only needs to start the race on Saturday to seal the championship, provided there are no post-qualifying inspection issues.
The class battles across the field were fiercely contested. Over in LMP2, AO Racing’s PJ Hyet became the first driver under the 1m13s barrier with a lap of 1m12.944s in the #99 LMP2 ORECA 07, easily holding firm for class pole. Jeremy Clarke bounced back from an earlier off-track moment at Turn 10 to put the #43 Inter Europol Competition entry second, 0.223s back, ahead of Misha Goikhberg and Daniel Goldburg.
Meanwhile, GTD Pro saw Neil Verhagen completely untouchable in Paul Miller Racing’s #1 BMW M4 GT3 Evo. After setting the early benchmark, Verhagen lowered his mark to 1m18.194s and stayed there. Car Blanche’s Mattia Drudi grabbed second in the dying moments with a 1m18.338s tour, knocking Nicky Catsburg down to third by a razor-thin 0.17s margin in his Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports machine. That late shuffle had major championship ramifications, shrinking Catsburg and Tommy Milner's points lead down to 42 over Verhagen.
The GTD session ended under dramatic circumstances when a red flag flew with just over three minutes remaining. Adam Adelson had slowed offline into Turn 10 in his Wright Motorsports machine, leaving the inside open before Brenden Iribe piled into the back of the #120 Porsche 911 GT3.R with his #70 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. Before the crash halted proceedings, Winward Racing’s Philip Ellis had already banked the fastest time with a 1m18.674s in the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3. Antonio Fuoco took second for AF Corse USA in the #21 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, 0.161s behind, while Aaron Telitz secured third for Vasser Sullivan in the Lexus RC F GT3's final outing.
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