Porsche Driver Tandy Becomes First Repeat GT Le Mans Pole Winner

Porsche North America driver Nick Tandy became the first repeat pole winner in the history of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class Saturday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

He posted a best lap of 1:14.829 (118.302 mph) in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR co-driven by Patrick Pilet to lead the class in qualifying for Sunday’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance.

A streak of 16 different pole winners began with the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona – the inaugural TUDOR Championship race. Tandy’s first GTLM pole was at Road Atlanta, for the 2014 season-ending Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda.

Dirk Werner qualified second with a lap of 1:14.857 (118.257 mph) in the No. 25 BMW Team RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM, co-driven by Bill Auberlen. Werner was the last GTLM driver to win the pole prior to Saturday, posting the fastest lap in qualifying at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Qualifying for the most recent race at Watkins Glen International was rained out and the starting grid was set based on driver points.

The competitive class has two teams tied for the lead entering Sunday’s race. BMW Team RLL teammates John Edwards and Lucas Luhr qualified third with a time of 1:14.984 (118.057 mph) in the No. 24 IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM. They share the lead with the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R driven by Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia, which will start fifth after qualifying in 1:15.325 (117.523 mph).

Qualifying fourth at Canada’s oldest and largest motorsport complex was Risi Competizione’ s No. 62 Ferrari F458 Italia driven by Pierre Kaffer and co-driver Giancarlo Fisichella. Kaffer turned a best lap of 1:15.298 (117.565 mph).

NOTES:

• Nick Tandy’s qualifying time of 1:12.667 (121.821 mph) in the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR was a new GTLM qualifying lap record at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

• After qualifying, the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR shared by Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler, the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR co-driven by Joerg Bergmeister and Earl Bamber, and the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R shared by Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner were moved to the rear of the provisional grid, as their teams elected to change tires after qualifying. The No. 17 now will start sixth in class, with the No. 912 in seventh and the No. 4 eighth.

Nick Tandy, Driver – No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR: “I think at the end of the day, the team was making sure we were doing everything properly and to the maximum. We had a clear idea of when we wanted to get the temperature in the tires. It’s always like this in qualifying. We waited for some of the other cars to clear the previous race’s rubber off the circuit and put some Michelin rubber down. Judging by the top three cars, at least we were the last three cars to go out, so that was a good tactic by the team. We were surprised at how fast the pace was today, we knew the track temperature would be high. It doesn’t suit the Porsche, which really likes the cooler temperatures, but the car was working nice and well.”

(On competition in the GTLM class): “It’s tough, but at the same time it’s brilliant. It’s not like you have one dominant team or manufacturer. It’s like each week you’ve got a chance. We go to different places that suit each kind of car, but all manufacturers are within hundredths (of a second). I know it’s a short track here, but I think yesterday there was only half a tenth between the top four cars and top three manufacturers. You never want to win easy, you want to win the tough way.”

Jan Magnussen (No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R) “The track was in really poor condition compared to what we had this morning. For sure the Continental Tire series race put down a lot of rubber, and it got warmer which makes it just slippery and unresponsive. It’s a little bit frustrating, to be honest. We lost a second from this morning. This is not what we had hoped for. I think we have a better Corvette C7.R than this. Hopefully it will show in the race.”

Sunday’s on-track activity opens with a 20-minute warm-up session beginning at 8 a.m. ET. The Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance will be televised live in the U.S. on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 12 p.m. ET. Live television coverage in Canada is available on FOX Sports Racing, with live worldwide coverage available through the IMSA mobile app and IMSA.com.

Contact:

nsiebens@imsa.com

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