Bleekemolen Beats Trio Of Porsches For TOTAL Pole Award In GTD

For the first time in six TUDOR United SportsCar Championship races dating back to July of 2014, someone other than James Davison will start from the pole in the GT Daytona (GTD) class. Jeroen Bleekemolen drove the No. 33 TI Automotive/Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R to the top spot in TOTAL Pole Award qualifying Friday for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, beating a trio of Porsches with a lap of 2:03.485 (109.033 mph).

After a string of five consecutive pole positions, Davison will roll off the grid fifth in TRG-AMR’s No. 007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage.

Bleekemolen and the No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America of Mario Farnbacher swapped the top spot five times throughout the 15-minute session before Bleekemolen posted the time to beat with three minutes remaining. Farnbacher settled for second, just 0.053 seconds off the pole, at 2:03.538 (108.987 mph).

“We knew Alex Job was going to be strong because they tested here,” said Bleekemolen, who earned his second TOTAL Pole Award in the TUDOR Championship. “They had some lap times that were incredibly fast. It turned out to be a fight between me and them. I heard Mario did a great lap and I had to find three-tenths and I didn’t think that was going to work. We got a great lap together and beat him by half a tenth.”

Spencer Pumpelly will lead an all-Porsche second row after posting a lap of 2:04.106 (108.488 mph) in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America, joined by Leh Keen’s Weather Tech Racing Porsche 911 GT America, 2:04.339 (108.285 mph).

Flag-to-flag coverage of the Twelve Hours of Sebring begins at 10:30 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1; FOX Sports 2, 12:30 -7 p.m.; IMSA.com, 7-10 p.m.; and FOX Sports 2, 10-11 p.m. A two-hour special highlights show will be aired on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, March 22, from 8-10 a.m.

Media Contact:

Nate Siebens

nsiebens@imsa.com

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