Pla Captures Second Straight TOTAL Pole Award At Sebring In Rebuilt Michael Shank Racing Honda Ligie

Hard work by the Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian team to rebuild the No. 60 Tire Kingdom Honda Ligier JS P2 after a pair of incidents paid off on Friday, with Olivier Pla capturing the TOTAL Pole Award for the 64th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida.

Pla ran a lap of 1:51.217 (121.061 mph) to capture his second consecutive pole Sebring pole in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition. The team worked until 3 a.m. repairing major damage to three corners of the car following an incident by John Pew in Thursday’s night practice. Then in Friday morning’s final practice, Pla had a brake issue and impacted a barrier, escaping with broken front-end bodywork.

“It was tough in many ways,” said Pla, who co-drives with Pew and Ozz Negri. “First, because yesterday the crew had to repair the car overnight, and things were a bit crazy. Then today we changed the setup because we were struggling. It paid off. We knew we had to push, because qualifying and the race were going to be tough. I love this track. I know this one is difficult, but the team gave me a great car.”

Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Pipo Derani will start second, running a best lap of 1:51.391 (120.872 mph) in the No. 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Honda Ligier JS P2 co-driven by Ed Brown, Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek.

While Action Express Racing dominated the weekend’s four practice sessions, the two-car team had to settle for sharing the second row following the 15-minute session. Dane Cameron was third fastest with a lap of 1:51.943 (120.275 mph) in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP co-driven by Eric Curran and Scott Pruett. Christian Fittipaldi qualified fourth with a lap of 1:52.205 (119.995 mph). He will be joined by fellow defending Sebring winner Joao Barbosa plus Filipe Albuquerque in the 2015-winning No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP.

Rare Qualifying Attempt Results In PC Pole For Braun, CORE autosport

Making a rare qualifying attempt in the No. 54 CORE autosport Flex-Box/Composite Resources ORECA FLM09, Colin Braun went to the top of the charts and stayed there, capturing the TOTAL Pole Award in Prototype Challenge (PC) with a lap of 1:54.910 (117.170 mph).

Braun recorded his fourth career WeatherTech Championship pole but first since Indianapolis in 2014. His lone qualifying attempt since then was at Daytona in 2015, after a rule change to mandate that the qualifying driver also must start the race.

“It’s nice to get the chance to qualify,” said Braun, who scored his 13th career pole in major American sports car competition. “We’ve been quick all week and we have a nice race car. We’ve always run well here. Tomorrow we’re going to have variable conditions including some rain, so that will play into things. I think you have to have a little luck to get through the first 10 hours, and then you really need to work things out in the last two hours.”

Defending Sebring class winner Tom Kimber-Smith qualified second in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry with a lap of 1:55.843 (116.226 mph). Qualifying in the second row were Daytona pole winner Johnny Mowlem, 1:56.661 (115.441 mph) in the No. 20 BAR1 Motorsports ORECA, and James French, 1:57.189 (114.891 mph) in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.

• “Track conditions at Sebring change so fast with the weather and the amount of cars running,” said Dane Cameron after qualifying third in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP. “The conditions were much different qualifying right after the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race. I wasn’t quite as happy with the car as I was this morning, but obviously I still think we’re very well prepared for the race. Tomorrow’s a long 12 hours, but I think the Action Express guys have us well prepared.”

• With the Prototype Challenge class upgrading to a new electronics package beginning with this weekend’s event, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports opted to turn off the traction control on the No. 20 BAR1 Motorsports Southwest Realty Advisors/Southwest Funding/Top 1 Oil ORECA FLM09.

“We thought we had TC (traction control) off, but it still came on and we were having an engine misfire in the corners,” said Rolex 24 At Daytona class pole winner Johnny Mowlem. “It’s a shame. No way would we have won the pole – Colin Braun has been hooked up all week – but I think we would have been in the 55s.”

• Starworks Motorsport adjusted its qualifying plans based on Saturday’s weather forecast. With the race expected to begin in dry conditions, the team opted to qualify Pro-Am driver Alex Popow in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA FLM09 so he could get in his three-hour minimum drive time in dry conditions. Then, with chances of rain increasing later in the afternoon, expected qualifier Renger van der Zande and David Heinemeier Hansson will be available to drive in the changing conditions.

• Both of the Prototype classes just missed out on breaking the existing track records. Pla missed his own year-old Prototype mark of 1:51.152 (121.131), while Braun was shy of beating Bruno Junquiera’s two-year old track PC record of 1:54.839 (117.242 mph).

• The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida is Round 2 of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. Points will be scored after four hours, eight hours and the finish, with five points for first; four for second; three for third; and two for all other competitors.

• Friday’s activities included the annual Sebring Hall of Fame Luncheon, highlighted by the induction of Tom Kristensen, Dick Smothers, Alex Job Racing, former Sebring raceway president Tres Stephenson and former Tampa Tribune sports editor Tom McEwen. IMSA President and COO Scott Atherton announced at the luncheon that the circuit’s third turn was renamed “Kristensen Corner” in honor of the leading winner in 12 Hour history with six overall victories. The event was hosted by racing legend Derek Bell.

• Live television coverage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring begins on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET on FS1. Action continues on FS2 from noon to 7 p.m.; moves to IMSA.com from 7-10 p.m.; and returns to FS2 from 10-11 p.m. The entire race will be streamed live on the FOX Sports GO app.

Contact:

nsiebens@imsa.com

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