Graf, Auberlen lead record-setting qualifying at Baltimore
All five class standards fall on Inner Harbor Street Circuit
Martin W. Spetz
BALTIMORE (August 30, 2013) – Klaus Graf captured the pole for Saturday’s Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT, leading a qualifying session that saw track records for all five classes broken on the 2.02-mile Inner Harbor Street Circuit.
Graf ran a lap of 1 minute, 25.290 seconds (86.106 mph) in the No. 6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03c co-driven by Lucas Luhr. It was his second pole of the 2013 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón season and fourth for the team this year.
Graf will be joined on the front row by the No. 16 Dyson Racing Lola B12/60 of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith. Dyson qualified with a lap of 84.657 mph.
“The Muscle Milk car was really performing well in qualifying, and it got quicker and quicker every lap,” Graf said. “The track changed a lot today. The IndyCars ran before our qualifying so there was a lot of grip, and based on the data we had and the changes we made, we did it perfectly.”
In GT class qualifying, Bill Auberlen captured his first pole of the season in the No. 55 Team RLL Crowne Plaza BMW Z4 GTE with a lap of 1:29.560 (82.001 mph). Teammate Joey Hand originally qualified second in the No. 56 BMW, but his times were disallowed when a ride-height issue was revealed in post-qualifying technical inspection. As a result, Corvette Racing’s No. 4 Compuware Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 qualified by Tommy Milner moves to the GT front row.
Ryan Briscoe won his fourth pole of the season in P2 qualifying and the sixth for Level 5 Motorsports in the No. 551 Siemens/Alpina Watches/Ohiya Casino Resort HPD ARX-03b, 1:27.170 (84.249 mph). Briscoe is back in the cockpit after recovering from an injury suffered in IZOD IndyCar Series competition. The Aussie ran his fast lap late in the 15-minute session to take the pole from Extreme Speed Motorsports driver Johannes van Overbeek’s No. 02 Tequila Patrón HPD ARX-03b.
Dane Cameron led Prototype Challenge presented by Continental Tire (PC) qualifying. Driving the No. 52 PR1 Motorsports Molecule ORECA FLM09 for the first time this season, he won the pole with a lap of 1:28.235 (83.232 mph).
In GTC, Jeroen Bleekemolen captured his fourth pole of the season and 15th of his career with a lap of 1:34.322 (77.861 mph) in the No. 22 Alex Job Racing WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Live streaming of Saturday's Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT will be available on ESPN3.com at 3:30 p.m. ET in the United States and internationally on ALMS.com. The race will be televised on ABC at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday.
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