Cadillac, Lexus, Ferrari top qualifying.

Both Cadillacs in front row

For the second consecutive race and the second year in a row at Sebring International Raceway, Cadillac Racing secured the front-row staring spots. Derani was also the pole sitter for the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in late January and Bourdais was close behind in second. It is also the same order as the 2023 race.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R

Pipo Derani with #31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R was fastest of GTPs with a best lap of 1:48.152 in a shortened session that was impacted by a red flag due to an accident by Mathieu Jaminet.

"It is a good start for the race, but it's a long race," said Derani, who will share driving duties with Jack Aitken and Tom Blomqvist. “It was a difficult qualifying session. It’s never easy when you have a red flag situation and you have to put the lap in. I was told over the radio that I could potentially have a second flying lap if I pushed. So, I obviously pushed but I was way too close for comfort to the No. 40 Acura. I was able to put the lap in but was a little bit disrupted because it wasn’t such a clean lap because he made a few mistakes in front of me, so I lost a little bit of time trying to control that distance to make sure I guaranteed a lap in case I didn’t have a second one. For sure, there’s more from the lap time. It wasn’t a perfect lap because of those things I said. Nevertheless, it was enough to be on pole. It’s never the nicest way to get a pole – for the grid – when you know that no one was able to achieve the full potential of their cars. Nevertheless, it’s still the same for everyone. You still have to put a lap in. You make no mistakes in such a pressure situation. I was able to extract to a certain extent enough out of the car that was good enough for pole. Very hot conditions, which makes it even more interesting how you operate the tires. It’s a tricky situation.” Source: Cadillac Racing

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac

Sebastien Bourdais in the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac qualified second with 1:48.299 enabling a Cadillac front row for the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

Sebastien Bourdais: “It was a bit of a longshot (for pole) with the pit position we had. Couldn’t really put any heat in the tires on the second attempt (after red flag) and started the lap in the tail of the 10 (car). There really wasn’t any gap for me and the Lambo started to check up before the last corner and I knew I had to do the last corner somewhat quick and I ended up really close to the 10, but there was nowhere else to go. Just a shame that they put the red flag on us just before I could complete the first timed lap. That would have been enough for pole. We’ll take out second and go from there.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06

Louis Deletraz qualified third in the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 with 1:48.593. Delétraz will be sharing driver duties aboard the #40 with Andretti Global Honda IndyCar driver Colton Herta and former Sebring winner Jordan Taylor.

Louis Deletraz: "We're happy with the result, especially after a tough day yesterday where we ended up putting a lot of new components on the car. Everyone did a great job getting it together and give me a great car for qualifying. We were treating [qualifying] as a test session as well as a performance session and in the end, we still ended up P3 and in a good position for tomorrow's race." Source: Acura

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #24 BMW M Hybrid V8.

Philipp Eng qualified fourth in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 with 1:48.829.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06

Ricky Taylor would have won the pole with #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 as he recorded the quickest lap of the session (1:48.038) but lost all qualifying times due to the team working on the car during the red flag.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #6 Penske Porsche

Jaminet did hit the wall head-on with the #6 Penske Porsche at the exit of turn 1. The #6 Penske Porsche will start the race from the rear of the GTP grid.

Mathieu Jaminet: “We’d hoped for a better result for our number 6 Porsche 963. I’m fine so far, but I’m very sorry about the accident and for the Porsche Penske Motorsport team and all my colleagues at Porsche in Weissach. Unfortunately, the guys now have a bit of work to do on our car. It’s a shame because the Porsche was running brilliantly on my first lap. A grid position in the top three would have been within reach. Now, we can only look ahead to the race. If our car is competitive again there, we have twelve hours to make up ground.” Source: Porsche

Full GTP Qualifying results

Source: IMSA. GTP qualifying results.

Vasser Sullivan top GTD Pro qualifying

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3

Jack Hawksworth won the GTD Pro pole position aboard the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 with 1:58.714.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3

Mario Farnbacher was second of GTD Pro in the #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 0.550 second back of Hawksworth’s best time. It is the fifth best lap of combined GTD class. The #23 Aston Martin will start from third row of combined GTD class.

Full GTD Pro Qualifying results

Source: IMSA. GTD Pro qualifying results.

Daytona GTD winning in pole of GTDs

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3

Philip Ellis was fastest of the GTD class in #57 Winward Racing Daytona-winning #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with 1:58.778 but has been stripped from his pole position after IMSA scrutening found non-permitted sensors installed during the session..

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3

Antonio Fuoco’s #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 will start from first row of combined GTD class with the second best lap in 1:59.014. He is first in GTD class since #57 Mercedes was disqualified.

Full GTD Qualifying results

Source: IMSA. GTD qualifying results.

Related Info

📷 luc Warnotte at Sebring 2023. Phil Hanson tops Thursday combined practices

📷 © Courtesy of Ford. #77 Ford Mustang GT3 ambitions in WEC LMGT3.

📷 Courtesy of Ford. Ben Barker with FORD for the first year.

📷 Courtesy of IMSA. The Ford Mustang GT3 story