Detroit IMSA: Magnussen beats Tincknell to pole by 0.021s

Magnussen, embroiled in a battle for pole with Tristan Vautier of JDC-Miller MotorSports and Pipo Derani of Action Express Racing, suddenly had a new target after Vautier hurtled sideways into the Turn 4 tire wall, but Race Control delayed hanging the red flag.

This allowed Tincknell’s RT24-P and Magnussen’s DPi-V.R to complete their flying laps. The Mazda driver turned a 1min20.052sec to go top, but the #01 Ganassi Cadillac trimmed 0.021sec off that time and the former Formula 1 driver earned his first IMSA pole in the car he shares with Renger van der Zande.

With Vautier losing his best time for causing a red flag, Derani was promoted to third ahead of Ricky Taylor in the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05. Olivier Pla in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura was 1.4sec off the ultimate pace in fifth.

Pole sitter #39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3, GTD: Richard Heistand

Photo by: Gavin Baker / Motorsport Images

An outstanding Richard Heistand earned GT Daytona pole in the Carbahn Peregrine Racing Audi R8 LMS, beating his former team, Vasser Sullivan, into second place by 0.088sec.

Frankie Montecalvo was second fastest in the #12 Lexus RC F GT3, ahead of Roman De Angelis in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage, and Robby Foley’s BMW M6 GT3 (Turner Motorsport).

One of the favorites for pole before qualifying, the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus, was left handling like a dodgy supermarket shopping cart after Aaron Telitz smacked the right rear into the wall on the exit of Turn 2. It also meant his co-driver, Jack Hawksworth, had nothing to drive in the Pro segment of qualifying that decides qualifying points.

However, Telitz’s best to that point kept him fifth, ahead of Madison Snow’s Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan.

When the Pros took over the cars, the Corvettes – who are running for show, rather than points this weekend – also joined the fray, with Jordan Taylor steering the #3 C8.R and Nick Tandy in the #4. That mini-battle was resolved in Tandy’s favor by an impressive 0.323sec.

Among GTD Pro drivers, Mario Farnbacher’s Compass Racing Acura NSX edged Ross Gunn’s Aston Martin Vantage by 0.123sec. Townsend Bell, drafted in at the last minute to sub for COVID-positive Zach Veach, was a highly impressive third fastest ahead of the Jeff Westphal in the pole-winning Audi, Katherine Legge in the Hardpoint EBM Porsche 911, and Mikael Grenier in the SunEnergy1 Mercedes.

Qualifying results:

Cla	Num	Driver	Class	Time	Gap
1	01	Renger van der Zande Kevin Magnussen	DPi	1'20.031
2	55	Oliver Jarvis Harry Tincknell	DPi	1'20.052	0.021
3	31	Felipe Nasr Pipo Derani	DPi	1'20.161	0.130
4	10	Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque	DPi	1'20.299	0.268
5	5	Tristan Vautier Loic Duval	DPi	1'20.532	0.501
6	60	Dane Cameron Olivier Pla	DPi	1'21.455	1.424
7	4	Tommy Milner Nick Tandy	GTLM	1'27.283	7.252
8	3	Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor	GTLM	1'27.606	7.575
9	76	Jeff Kingsley Mario Farnbacher	GTD	1'29.871	9.840
10	23	Roman De Angelis Ross Gunn	GTD	1'29.994	9.963
11	12	Frankie Montecalvo Townsend Bell	GTD	1'30.008	9.977
12	39	Richard Heistand Jeff Westphal	GTD	1'30.110	10.079
13	88	Rob Ferriol Katherine Legge	GTD	1'30.140	10.109
14	75	Kenny Habul Mikael Grenier	GTD	1'30.240	10.209
15	28	Daniel Morad Michael de Quesada	GTD	1'30.471	10.440
16	1	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	GTD	1'30.485	10.454
17	96	Bill Auberlen Robby Foley	GTD	1'30.698	10.667
18	19	Mikhail Goikhberg Marco Mapelli	GTD	1'30.810	10.779
19	66	Till Bechtolsheimer Marc Miller	GTD	1'30.994	10.963
20	14	Aaron Telitz Jack Hawksworth	GTD
View full results