Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) got off to a fast start at Watkins Glen International, putting the No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-05 DPi on the pole position for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hour.
Backing up its performance that saw MSR lead both practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis will start on the pole for the first time this season. Blomqvist broke the track record by posting a 1:29.580-second lap which was previously held by teammate Jarvis.
The pole position marks MSR’s first DPi pole with Acura and first in DPi for Blomqvist.
MSR opted to sit on pit road for the opening half of the 15-minute session. With his first lap at speed, Blomqvist went to the top of the time sheets with a lap of 1:29.698-seconds. Blomqvist was even faster for most of his next lap, only to encounter traffic in the final Turn 11 on the historic 3.4-mile circuit.
Undaunted, Blomqvist kept his elbows up with a third and final lap for the track mark.
MSR enters the race with a 10-point lead atop the DPi standings and following qualifying MSR has grown it’s lead to 13 points. The team is enjoying a streak of three-consecutive runner-up finishes.
Team Quotes:
Tom Blomqvist:
“The team has done a fantastic job and the car has been performing really well, obviously topping FP1 and FP2, so I had a little bit of pressure coming into qualifying to make sure we could convert that practice pace into a solid qualifying run. We have been working so hard the last few events and we’ve really come on strong at the right time of year as well. There’s six hours of racing tomorrow, so while it’s nice to start from pole it might not mean a whole lot, but it definitely helps our case. I think that one [lap] would have been a few tenths quicker [had I not caught lap traffic], but the car’s been rapid and done a really, really good job. Lots of credit to the boys and girls at MSR.”
Mike Shank:
“I’m really proud of the whole team for what we’ve accomplished so far this weekend. We’ve been working so hard each weekend and have seemed to come up short in the last few qualifying runs, so it feels nice to finally get the pole. Both Tom and Olly have been doing a fantastic job this weekend – Olly won here last year so this is a strong track for him, and Tom has adapted to this car very well. It’s a great way to start off the six hour tomorrow.”
Source. Sunday Group
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