ILMC/ALMS, Petit Le Mans - GTE-AM and GTC Qualifying

The first 20 minute qualifying session of four was for the GTE-Am and GTC cars – 11 cars out on track – or there should have been, Bryan Sellers joining in the fun incorrectly in the #17 Team Falken GTE Pro-Porsche – He pitted after a single lap and was rewarded with a penalty meaning he would miss the first 3 and a half minutes for his correct session.

In GTC it turned into the usual close fought affair Spencer Pumpelly in the #66 TRG car fending off the close attentions of the sister #68 car of Dion von Moltke and the #23 AJR car of Leh Keen – He was edged out though by a lap from Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #54 Black Swan Porsche, the flying Dutchman completing his flier at 1:24.543.

Jeroen Bleekemolen

"It's my fifth pole of the season and things are looking very good for the race tomorrow.  Qualifying in GTC is great fun.  I came over from Supercup and was well prepared for the quick fire qualifying format and with a few other Supercup guys doing the same it helped to raise the game - it's now very fast and very close and great fun!"

Craig Stanton meanwhile seemed to have got the memo that all of the cars damaged in the morning practice session are likely to make the race, the #77 Magnus Racing Porsche looks doomed to be eliminated.

In GTE-Am there was a battle of the 430s, the AF Corse and Krohn cars fending off Richard Lietz in the Proton Porsche – Nic Jonsson bettered Lietz’s mark by just two hundredths of a second but both were overhauled by Rui Aguas in the #61 AF Corse 430 – 1:20.619 enough to secure class pole, almost three tenths clear of Jonsson.

Aguas was clearly impressed with the Road Atlanta circuit, he's here on his debut here:  "The car was great and the session went well.  I got a good lap in and I did enough to take the pole.  The track here is fantastic, and it suits the Ferrari very well.