ROAR: LMP2 Qualifying
Keating Earns Fourth Daytona Pole
📷 © Luc Warnotte: Ben Keating with #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 at ROAR qualifying 2023.
Veteran driver Ben Keating took Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) pole honors in the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 with a lap of 1:40.541 (127.470 mph). While the conditions seemed ideal for fast laps – sunny skies, mild temperatures – Keating said the windy surroundings made it a bit treacherous.
“I felt like this was one of the more tricky qualifying sessions,” said Keating, who earned his fourth Rolex 24 pole and 12th of his IMSA career. He’ll share the #52 in the race with Paul-Loup Chatin, Alex Quinn and Nicolas Lapierre.
“You set your car up so you’re on the edge in the Bus Stop (the Le Mans Chicane on the oval backstretch),” Keating explained. “All weekend, we had a slight headwind going into the Bus Stop. Today, we had about a 19-mph tailwind, and that made a huge difference in our car. I expected it to be tricky, but it’s never quite real until you get out there and start doing it,” Keating said. “I had quite a few ‘moments’ in the car at the Bus Stop and I was not surprised to see a car go off there.”
📷 © Luc Warnotte: Both TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 during ROAR qualifying 2023.
Both TDS Racing cars are trusting the 2 remaining seats of the qualification podium.
📷 © Luc Warnotte: #35 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 during ROAR qualifying 2023.
Francois Heriau in the #35 TDS Racing ORECA was a tick behind Keating, posting a time of 1:41.751 (125.594 mph).
📷 © Luc Warnotte: #11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 during ROAR qualifying 2023.
Steven Thomas was third in the #11 TDS Racing at 1:41.813 (125.878 mph) and inadvertently helped Keating.
“I got a nice tow off of Thomas and that made about half a second worth of difference,” Keating said.
📷 © Luc Warnotte: # 88 AF Corse ORECA LMP2 07 during ROAR qualifying 2023.
# 88 AF Corse ORECA LMP2 07 will start from second row of LMP2 grid setting a time of 1:41.942
📷 © Luc Warnotte: #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07 during ROAR qualifying 2023.
#04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA will start from third row with the fifth performance of the qualification session in 1:41.951
The other LMP2 had a qualification time above the 1:42’.
Two LMP2s spun
Two LMP2s spun with the help of breezy conditions and a “green track” after Saturday’srain showers washed the rubber off the track surface.
📷 © Luc Warnotte: John Farano, wheeling the No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA, spun and made heavy contact into a tire wall in Turn 7.
📷 © Luc Warnotte: Fred Poordad also went off course in Turn 6 in the #55 Proton Competition ORECA during ROAR LMP2 Qualifying.
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