ROAR: LMP3 Qualifying
First IMSA Pole in LMP3 for Pino
📷 © Luc Warnotte: #33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 at ROAR qualifying 2023.
Eighteen-year-old Nico Pino scored his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole with a blistering lap of 1:43.197 (124.189 mph) in the #33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 giving car owner his first pole in Daytona (as a car owner).
It was a big day for Pino and car owner Sean Creech, who has a race shop in Jupiter, Florida. It was Creech’s first Daytona pole as a car owner.
“This is a special one,” Pino said. “This was my first pole (ever). We have a long race coming ahead – 24 hours. This was a 15-minute qualifying session.”
Pino will share the #33 with Lance Willsey, Danny Soufi and four-time Rolex 24 winner Joao Barbosa.
“We have done a lot of work fine-tuning the car,” Pino said. “We had our ups and downs through the practice sessions, but now we have a good baseline to start working with the team for the race. I’m looking forward to it.”
📷 © Luc Warnotte: #36 Andretti Autosport Ligier at ROAR qualifying 2023.
Dakota Dickerson (#36 Andretti Autosport Ligier) was second fastest with a lap of 1:43.307 (124.057 mph) and lost pole for 0.110 sec.
📷 © Luc Warnotte: #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 was third of LMP3 qualifying with 1:43.351 and will start from second row of LMP3 grid.
📷 © Luc Warnotte: #43 MRS-GT Racing Ligier JS P320 was fourth during ROAR LMP3 Qualifying with 1:43.357. Only 0.006 slower than #38 in qualifying lap!
📷 © Luc Warnotte: #74 Riley Ligier JS P320 was fifth during ROAR LMP3 Qualifying with 1:43.840.
The 5 Ligier dominated the 4 Duqueine in LMP3
The four Duqueine D08 were slower than the Ligier JS P320 with only #85 JDC Miller Motorsports being under 1:44 in fastest lap.
📷 © Luc Warnotte: #85 JDC Miller Motorsports Duqueine D08 was sixth during ROAR LMP3 Qualifying with 1:43.883.
Rolex 24 At Daytona practice starts Thursday. The 24-hour race begins Saturday with the start airing live on NBC at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday and the conclusion beginning at noon Sunday, Jan. 29.
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