Mid-Ohio: Orbit Racing qualifying report

ORBIT / Paul Miller Racing earned its second American Le Mans Series GTC class front-row starting position in three races, just missing the class pole position by 0.3 seconds. Bryce Miller of Summit, N.J., qualified the No. 48 Marquis Jet / GPR Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car second in class with a fast lap of one minute 25.260 seconds on the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The start matches his qualifying effort at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, in June. He and his co-driver, Luke Hines of Essex, England, went on to lead the GTC class in Utah and set a class race lap record.

At Mid-Ohio on Friday, Miller took the provisional GTC pole position on his second qualifying lap, but relinquished it as he encountered traffic on what should have been his fastest lap, when the tires were up to temperature. Hines and Miller have been strong all week, holding a close second place in class through testing and practice sessions. Miller said that bodes well for the race.

"The car was good in qualifying, but we had traffic," he said. "On our first flying lap we had a clear track, but when the tires were perfect, we had traffic. We held back at the start to get a hole and we got the fast lap on the clean lap. On the next lap, I encountered traffic -- one of the GT2 Corvettes was checking up, trying to find a hole for himself -- so it was just a throw-away lap, unfortunately. That's a little bit frustrating, but I think everyone is still really happy with the performance of the car and the lap times. We should have a good race car."

Hines will drive the first stint in the two-hour 45-minute race on Saturday, followed by Miller.

-source: orbit racing