IMSA: Nunez leads Mazda 1-2 in qualifying

It was a long time coming, but Mazda's persistence in sticking with its Prototype program is finally paying off. For the first time, the Mazda Prototypes qualified first and second, and they did it at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, for the Continental Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda.

Sweet.

Tristan Nunez laid down a lap of 1:18.143 in the No. 55 car he shares with Jonathan Bomarito, who was fastest in the last practice session. A close second – 0.236 seconds back – was Tom Long, in the No. 70 car he co-drives with Joel Miller.

"We knew what we had coming here – the car loves this track," said Nunez. "We pushed our hearts out in these cars. There's no better place than Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for our first pole, and I'm extremely honored to be able to do that. All that hard work by the team is finally paying off and we have a pretty competitive package now. It's going to show now and for the rest of the season."

Third was Dane Cameron in the No. 31 Whelen Action Express Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype he shares with Eric Curran.

In GT Le Mans, Ferrari spoiled Ford's run for its first pole for the Ford GT, with Daniel Serra making a last-minute dash in the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GTE to earn fastest time. Serra's best lap of 1:22.867 edged out Ford GT driver Ryan Briscoe by 0.079 seconds. Serra shares his Ferrari with Alessandro Pier Guidi, while Briscoe co-drives with Richard Westbrook.

"It was a really quick lap; the car was getting better and better each lap," Serra said. "We put in a lot of laps on the tires. It was me getting comfortable. I was really happy for that lap and for the team. We figured where we had to move and where to go, we got a result that was so fast."

Had it not been for the Ferrari, Ford would have had the top two times in the class, as the No. 66 Ford GT of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand was the third-fastest car. Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin, winners of the first two races this year, were fourth in the No. 4 Corvette Racing C7.R.

Prototype Challenge qualifying was an ultra-competitive affair with three cars swapping spots right up until the last lap. Coming out on top was Robert Alon, who shares the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen ORECA/Chevrolet with Tom Kimber Smith, with a best lap of 1:21.146.
Second was the No. 38 Performance Tech car of James French and Kyle Marcell, and third was the No. 8 Starworks car of Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande. The top three cars were less than a half-second apart.

"They told me on the radio that it was very, very tight," Alon said. "I just kept my head down and kept pushing. I used every inch of the track. Then my final lap was what did it. I think being on the pole is going to be very important in Sunday's race."

In GT Daytona, it's no surprise that Alex Riberas qualified the No. 23 Alex Job Racing/Team Seattle Porsche 911 GT3 R on the pole, since he and co-driver Mario Farnbacher have consistently led the 17-car class in practice.

The guys did a fantastic job with the setup," Riberas said. "It was fantastic since the first practice. For sure, it was a really good feeling to be on pole. These two hours will be really long, so we need to keep our head down and stay focused. Everybody tells me this is a Porsche track."

Riberas turned a fastest lap of 1:25.775, which was 0.722 seconds ahead of the best lap from Christina Nielsen, driving the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 she shares with Alessandro Balzan. Third was the No. 73 Park Place/Justice Brothers Porsche 911 GT3 R of Patrick Lindsey and Jorg Bergmeister, despite an off-road excursion for Lindsey during qualifying.

The Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda features the Prototype and GT Le Mans classes at 11:15 a.m. PT on Sunday (live, FS1, 2 p.m. ET), followed by the Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona classes at 3:45 p.m. PT (live, FS2, 6:30 p.m. ET).