PWC: Martin takes GTS pole for Round 3 at St. Petersburg

Dean Martin set the fastest lap in the 30-minute GTS qualifying session to take the Round 3 pole at the streets of St. Petersburg, as part of the Cadillac Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It's Martin's third career Pirelli World Challenge GTS pole.

Early in the session, Martin jumped to the top of the charts with a fastest lap of 1:19.304, followed by Mark Wilkins in the No. 38 Kinetic Motorsports/Kia Racing Kia Optima PutOnTheBrakes.Org with a 1:19.377.

The session was red-flagged a few minutes later for debris in turn 1. The session resumed with 22 minutes remaining and Martin quickly bettered his time with a 1:19.001.

Spencer Pumpelly jumped ahead of Wilkins soon after with a 1:19.262 at the halfway point of the session and all three remained in position when the green flag flew to close qualifying.

Rounding out the top five were Andrew Aquilante in the No. 32 Calvert Dynamics/Phoenix Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302 with a 1:19.476 and Ben Clucas in the No. 36 Kinetic Motorsports/Kia Racing DonorsChoose.Org Kia Optima with a 1:19.620.

The Round 3 race from St. Petersburg is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Eastern on Friday. Watch live streaming of the race at www.world-challengetv.com and www.torque.tv.