IMSA Laguna Seca: Acuras lock out front row, Corvette tops GTLM
Juan Pablo Montoya beat Acura Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves to land pole for the penultimate round of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Defending champion Montoya turned a 1min15.174sec of the 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, to beat his championship-contending teammate Castroneves by 0.159sec.
Oliver Jarvis fell just 0.078sec short of splitting the ARX-05s with his Mazda RT24-Ps, and was a mere 0.009sec ahead of Pipo Derani’s best in the fastest of the Cadillac DPi-V.Rs, Action Express Racing’s entry piloted by Pipo Derani.
JDC Miller Motorsports’ Tristan Vautier did a fine job to nab fifth ahead of the second Mazda of Jonathan Bomarito, while Ryan Briscoe and Matheus Leist completed the fourth row for Wayne Taylor Racing and JDC Miller respectively.
Patrick Kelly, driving the sole LMP2 entry this weekend, turned 11 laps of the track, and despite a few offs as he explored the limits of his PR1-Mathiasen Oreca, came well within 2sec of the top DPi time.
Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor worked hard to land his fourth GT Le Mans pole position of the season, setting a 1min21.483sec lap – a new GTLM class record – on his final flyer.
Porsche’s Laurens Vanthoor, despite an off, was able to clean his Michelins and draw within a quarter-second of his rival, but it turned out that championship leader Taylor had delivered the #3 C8.R’s fifth pole of the year.
Oliver Gavin, who it was revealed yesterday would be stepping down from Corvette’s full-time driver roster at season’s end, landed P3 ahead of the two BMW M8s.
Frederic Makowiecki’s #911 Porsche emerged late in the session and ran only two laps before pitting.
Matt McMurry set a 1min25.125sec in the #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX and then parked after just four laps leaving others a tough target at which to aim. Robby Foley, whose Turner Motorsports BMW M6 topped both of Saturday’s practice sessions, lowered his deficit to the Acura from 0.055sec to 0.014sec but couldn’t quite complete the job and quit trying after six laps. That left McMurry with his first ever GT Daytona-class pole.
Cooper MacNeil was 0.2sec adrift in the WeatherTech Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488, but was fast enough to beat the second MSR Acura of Misha Goikhberg by a tenth.
Frankie Montecalvo’s #12 Lexus RC F took fifth, but the sister car was out of luck. Aaron Telitz suffered a right-rear puncture on the #14 Lexus RC F after turning just three laps and his best effort to that point saw him fall to 10th, since teams aren’t allowed to touch their cars during the qualifying sessions, meaning he was unable to collect a new tire.
That misfortune allowed Ian James to claim sixth in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage ahead of Jeff Kingsley’s Compass Racing McLaren 720S and Till Bechtolshiemer in the Gradient Racing Acura.
The 2hr40min race – the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship – begins at 1.05pm local (Pacific) time, 4.05pm ET.
Cla | Num | Driver | Class | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | | DPi | Acura DPi | 8 | 1'15.174 | |
2 | 7 | | DPi | Acura DPi | 9 | 1'15.333 | 0.159 |
3 | 77 | | DPi | Mazda DPi | 7 | 1'15.411 | 0.237 |
4 | 31 | | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 8 | 1'15.420 | 0.246 |
5 | 5 | | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 8 | 1'15.461 | 0.287 |
6 | 55 | | DPi | Mazda DPi | 8 | 1'15.580 | 0.406 |
7 | 10 | | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 8 | 1'15.729 | 0.555 |
8 | 85 | | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 8 | 1'15.852 | 0.678 |
9 | 52 | | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 11 | 1'19.598 | 4.424 |
10 | 3 | | GTLM | Corvette C8.R | 6 | 1'21.483 | 6.309 |
11 | 912 | | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | 7 | 1'21.725 | 6.551 |
12 | 4 | | GTLM | Corvette C8.R | 6 | 1'21.853 | 6.679 |
13 | 25 | | GTLM | BMW M8 GTE | 5 | 1'22.054 | 6.880 |
14 | 24 | | GTLM | BMW M8 GTE | 4 | 1'22.120 | 6.946 |
15 | 86 | | GTD | Acura NSX GT3 | 4 | 1'25.126 | 9.952 |
16 | 96 | | GTD | BMW M6 GT3 | 6 | 1'25.140 | 9.966 |
17 | 63 | | GTD | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 7 | 1'25.318 | 10.144 |
18 | 57 | | GTD | Acura NSX GT3 | 5 | 1'25.426 | 10.252 |
19 | 12 | | GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | 4 | 1'25.475 | 10.301 |
20 | 23 | | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 5 | 1'25.676 | 10.502 |
21 | 76 | Jeff Kingsley | GTD | McLaren 720S GT3 | 7 | 1'25.826 | 10.652 |
22 | 22 | | GTD | Acura NSX GT3 | 8 | 1'26.012 | 10.838 |
23 | 16 | | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 5 | 1'26.171 | 10.997 |
24 | 44 | | GTD | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 6 | 1'26.359 | 11.185 |
25 | 14 | | GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | 3 | 1'26.404 | 11.230 |
26 | 30 | | GTD | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | 7 | 1'26.791 | 11.617 |
27 | 74 | | GTD | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 8 | 1'29.460 | 14.286 |
28 | 911 | | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | 2 | 1'32.856 | 17.682 |
View full results |

IMSA Laguna Seca: Mazda moves to the top in FP2
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