Florida-based DragonSpeed, in its debut season in the European Le Mans Series, took pole in qualifying for the second round of the championship at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
The #21 DragonSpeed ORECA 05-Nissan with Nicolas Lapierre at the wheel lapped in 1:33.780 to take pole by just under 1/10 of a second from the #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing ORECA 05-Nissan driven by Mathis Beche who lapped in 1:33.815.
In third place on the grid for Sunday May 15’s four hour race is the #23 Panis-Barthez Compétition Ligier JS P2. Paul-Loup Chatin, who was quickest in both of the previous free practice sessions, lapped in an identical time to the second place car. As the #46 car had established the time a lap earlier, the #23 car will line up on the grid in third place.
In LPM3, in a grid that consists entirely of Nissan-powered Ligier JS P3 chassis, United Autosports enjoyed another solid performance, placing its cars first and third in class on the grid.
The #3 United Autosports car took the class pole with a 1:39.256 with Wayne Boyd at the wheel. The #11 Eurointernational car with Giorgio Mondini driving was second in class with a 1:39.401. Alex Brundle will line up third in class for United Autosports in the #2 car after he lapped in 1:39.623.
Proton Competition will also line up first and third in the LMGTE class for Sunday’s race after Wolf Henzler lapped in 1:41.269 in the #77 Porsche 911 RSR 991 to take class pole. Klaus Bachler in the sister #66 car qualified third in after he put in a 1:41.397. Splitting the two Porsche 911 RSR 991s is the JMW Motorsport #66 Ferrari F458 Italia which lapped in 1:41.310 with Andrea Bertolini at the wheel.
The LMGTE field will be missing one entrant after Formula Racing had to withdraw its #60 Ferrari F458 Italia after damage sustained in FP2 proved impossible to repair in time for the race on Sunday.
The 4 Hours of Imola, the second round of the 2016 European Le Mans Series, starts at 14:00 local time on Sunday May 15.