IMSA Indianapolis: Campbell scores pole in Porsche lockout

GTP

The 28-year-old Aussie threw the gauntlet with a flying lap of 1m13.672s on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit to claim bragging rights at team owner Roger Penske’s track in the #7 Porsche 963. It marks the second pole of the year for Campbell.

It became a front-row lockout for Porsche Penske Motorsports after Mathieu Jaminet came across the line 0.152s off his team-mate.

Jaminet was briefly bumped from second by Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist before returning the favor in the final minutes and knocking the #60 Acura ARX-06 to third.

Sebastien Bourdais came away fourth in Chip Ganassi Racing’s #01 Cadillac V-Series.R, followed by points leader Ricky Taylor, who overcame an early Turn 2 spin to put the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport entry fifth.

LMP2

Ben Keating delivered a last gasp run in the final seconds to put the #51 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA at the top, besting the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR entry by a sizeable 0.440s. The result marked Keating’s third pole of 2023 (after Daytona and Sebring).

The #11 TDS Racing machine locked up third, with Steven Thomas missing the top spot by 0.673s.

LMP3

Bijoy Garg earned his first pole of the year, with his #29 Jr III Racing Duqueine D08 jetting to a fast lap of 1m20.513s.

The 21-year-old Indian-American set the time prior to the red flag coming out with eight minutes remaining after the #74 Riley Ligier JS P320 of points leader Gar Robinson skidded off course and slammed into the tire barrier.

The stoppage left competitors in LMP2 and LMP3 with 2m40s remaining, which was enough time to deliver one flying lap. Nolan Siegel managed to push Jr III’s #30 entry to second, missing pole by 0.469s as the team managed a lockout of 1-2.

The #13 AWA of Orey Fidani managed to lock down third, but 1.580s.

#9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911: Klaus Bachler, Patrick Pilet

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

GTD Pro

The #9 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) for Pfaff Motorsports was best in class after Klaus Bachler pushed to a run at 1m23.140s for his second pole of the year, after doing likewise at Laguna Seca. His quickest lap beat Jules Gounon’s #79 Mercedes AMG GT3 (WeatherTech Racing) by 0.150s.

Jack Hawksworth held the top spot briefly before settling into third for Vasser Sullivan, ahead of Heart of Racing Team’s Alex Riberas in fourth.

GTD

Madison Snow vaulted over rivals with a quick lap of 1m23.075s with less than seven minutes remaining, which was good enough to hold for the remainder to claim the top spot – the team’s third of the season (after Road America and Virginia International Raceway).

The #1 BMW M4 GT3 for Paul Miller Racing lapped a time that was fastest among not only the GTD, but outright pole in both GTD categories.

Within the class, though, the spread to second place Mikael Grenier was 0.349s in the #32 Mercedes AMG GT3 for Korthoff/Preston Motorsports. Turner Motorsports ended up third, with Patrick Gallagher wheeling its #96 BMW M4 GT3.