PWC: Francis Jr. scores race 1 TC pole

Ernie Francis Jr. scored the Round 16 TC pole in Friday morning's qualifying session at the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Monterey at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca presented by Cadillac. Paul Holton will start on pole for TCA, while Joey Jordan secured pole position in TCB.

TCB drivers first took to the track for a 20-minute qualifying session under 65-degree, partly cloudy conditions. Early on it was Tom O'Gorman in the No. 94 Full Throttle Indoor Karting Honda Fit who went to the top of the charts with a 1:54.544, followed by Jordan, in the No. 47 Protomotive Mazda Mazda2 with a 1:55.000.

Eight minutes into the session, Jordan then rose to the top with a 1:52.999 lap that would hold for the balance of the session. Andrei Kisel slotted second on the grid in the No. 57 Racing.ca/LaptopScreen.com MINI Cooper with a 1:53.101.

Championship points contenders Johan Schwartz, in the No. 25 Tech Sport Racing/CASgroup/Serengeti/ZERO Cancer Chevrolet Sonic and Glenn Nixon, in the No. 58 LaptopScreen.com/ClubRacing.com/Nixon Prosports/HPD Honda Fit posted times of 1:53.293 and 1:53.503, respectively, and will start third and fifth on the grid.

TC and TCA competitors then took to the track for their 20-minute session. Early in the qualifier, TC championship points leader Corey Fergus topped the charts with a 1:37.233 in the No. 00 USLED/Axis Roofing/AERO/RSS/Motul Porsche Cayman, followed by championship contender Francis Jr. with a 1:37.535. Francis Jr. then posted a 1:36.315 to top the charts. Fergus then bettered his time with a 1:36.955. Vesko Kozarov slotted into third on the grid in the No. 3 Skullcandy/Stance/Nissan/Nismo Nissan Altima with a 1:37.326. Kozarov then bettered Fergus' time to slot into second on the charts with a 1:36.750 that held until the end of the qualifying session.

In TCA, Paul Holton topped the charts with a 1:41.347 in the No. 71 Children's Tumor Foundation/HPD/Racing4Research.org Honda Civic Si, followed by championship points contender Patrick Seguin, in the No. 39 helpkevinproject.com Honda Civic Si with a 1:41.426. TCA Drivers' Championship points leader Jason Wolfe posted a 1:42.074 to slot into 4th with the No. 36 Wolfe Trucking Kia Forte Koup. Tony Rivera, in the No. 86 Tiburon Motorsports Scion FR-S will start third on the grid after posting a 1:41.952.

For Francis Jr., it's his fourth pole of the season and he gains a valuable seven points in his quest for the TC Drivers' Championship. Holton secured his first for the year. For Jordan, this will mark his second qualifying TCB pole position of the season.

TC, TCA and TCB drivers now get set for Round 16 of the championship scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Pacific / 5:15 p.m. Eastern. Watch live streaming of the race at world-challengetv.com.