Serra Sets Quickest Time of The Weekend.
R. Ferri Motorsports’ Daniel Serra and Racers Edge Motorsports’ Kyle Marcelli will start from pole position for Rounds 11 and 12 respectively of the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge America at Road America, Elkhart Lane, Wisconsin.
The two qualifying sessions took place in perfect conditions at America’s ‘National Park of Speed’.
Patrick Long spun the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R early in Qualifying 1 as the grid got tyres up to temperature. Daniel Serra set the quickest time of the weekend in the #61 Ferrari F488 GT3 with a 2:04.558. The Brazilian driver pitted after three laps to allow plenty of time for championship-leading Toni Vilander to prepare for his session.
Long, in the #58 Porsche, recovered from his early spin to go second quickest with a 2:06.429 after which the Porsche factory driver joined Daniel Serra in the pits.
Rodrigo Baptista in the #23 K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3 completed the top three on the grid with a 2:06.671
Mike Hedlund was quickest of the Pro-Am entries, lapping in 2:07.604 in the #43 RealTime Racing Acura NSX.
As the session drew to a close, Kevan Millstein spun in the #38 K2R Motorsports Porsche. Millstein will start from the back of the Pro-Am grid.
Marcelli On Pole For Race Two
Kyle Marcelli set the early pace in Q2 with a 2:05.469 in the #80 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura with Dane Cameron in the #43 Acura second quickest.
Martin Fuentes went off to bring out the red flag with the #7 Squadra Corsa Ferrari stuck in the gravel. Unusually, the clock was stopped with nearly six and a half minutes remaining in the session.
Championship leader Vilander ended the session fifth quickest with a 2:05.765 in the #61 Ferrari.
“It was my first time at the track and the (tyre) degradation was quite high so you start to understand the track but don’t have the grip. You don’t exactly know where you are,” said Daniel Serra after qualifying had finished. “We changed the car from yesterday and the car is better. Everything is super-fine so I could put the sectors together. I’m happy.
“For qualifying we pushed and did our best. In the race, we have to look to our competitors and manage the race to score as many points as possible and help Toni (Vilander) win the championship.”
Race One of the Road America double-header gets underway at 14:20 local time (20:20 UK time).