Mid-Ohio IMSA: Jarvis takes pole in thrilling qualifying
Mazda’s Oliver Jarvis took pole position for the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship round at Mid-Ohio, even though his car broke down on the final lap of a thrilling qualifying session, as Ford’s supersub Sebastien Bourdais snatched GTLM pole.
Prototype qualifying got off to a bizarre start as Penske’s Helio Castroneves ran into the back of Pipo Derani’s #31 Action Express Cadillac on the out lap in his #7 Acura. Both cars continued, although Castroneves suffered frontal damage. Derani was undeterred, and pressed on to set the pace with 1m12.314s, with Castroneves getting to within 0.053s of him.
Jarvis jumped to the top with a lap of 1m12.073s in the #77 Mazda, but Dane Cameron quickly eclipsed that in the #6 Penske Acura with 1m11.655s. Derani got to within 0.066s of that to take second. Cameron then hit Eric Lux’s LMP2 Oreca, just as Jarvis reclaimed pole with 1m11.006s, but the Acura driver recovered to retake the top spot with 1m10.806s.
Jarvis jumped back to P1 with 1m10.796s, as Cameron ploughed off at Turn 1, and then improved to 1m10.705s – significant as this improvement kept Castroneves behind, as the Brazilian managed a 1m10.727s.
Jarvis was forced to slow on his final lap, which caused Castroneves to have a huge moment as he avoided him, and Castroneves' last lap wasn’t an improvement as a result.
“I was on a good lap, pushing hard, I knew it was close, and the engine literally just died on me two corners from the end,” said Jarvis. “It’s been a tough weekend so far, so to put it on pole was a big one for us.”
Castroneves will start second, ahead of teammate Cameron. Derani was top Caddy in fourth, ahead of Joao Barbosa in the second AXR car, with Ryan Hunter-Reay sixth in the second Mazda.
Supersub Bourdais stars in GTLM
#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT, GTLM: Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
There was an epic battle for pole in the GT Le Mans class, as the track got faster right until the closing moments. Jan Magnussen set the early pace at 1m21.942 for Corvette Racing, but he was quickly eclipsed by BMW’s Connor de Phillippi. The second BMW of Jesse Krohn briefly grabbed P1 before Magnussen wrested it back.
Bourdais – subbing for the virus-ridden Joey Hand – jumped to top spot with 1m20.179s in his #66 Ford GT, then lowered that to 1m19.648s.
Porsche’s Laurens Vanthoor leapt to the top in #912, before Bourdais grabbed it back with 90s remaining with 1m19.425s. Vanthoor took it back, only for Bourdais to best him again with a 1m19.124s, 0.275s quicker than the lead Porsche.
“It feels great,” said Bourdais. “It’s tricky conditions, so really happy we came out on top. Tomorrow it’s going to be sunny, so the whole tire situation will be different.”
Krohn qualified third, ahead of Chevy’s Tom Milner – making it all four marques in the top top four places. Ryan Briscoe will start fifth in Ford #67, ahead of de Phillippi, Magnussen and Patrick Pilet in the #911 Porsche.
Lexus on top in GTD
#12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, GTD: Frank Montecalvo, Townsend Bell
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
In GTD, a damp track was sufficiently dry for all runners to take slick tires, but moist patches made life tricky. Ben Keating spun the #33 Mercedes at the exit of the Keyhole, before Marco Seefried looped the #73 Park Place Porsche at the same place after suffering a tank slapper, which led to a red flag to allow him to be recovered from the boggy run-off.
Zacharie Robichon was the star of the show before the stoppage, outpacing the field by over 2s in the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche 911. Times then tumbled, with the AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus duo of Richard Heistand and Frankie Montecalvo leaping to the top at the resumption.
Robichon split them, just 0.008s shy of the top time, but wasn’t allowed to complete his final flier due to a procedural penalty. But Heistand would not have been denied anyway, as he lowered the pole time to 1m24.281s ahead of Robichon.
“It’s a great car and I was really happy with the lap,” said Heistand. “With the track drying we just had to switch the tires on. We have a really quick car here, especially in the quick stuff.”
Keating pulled out a last-gasp flier, to grab third from Montecalvo. McLaren joined the GTD ranks for the first time, with the Compass Racing machine of Matt Plumb qualifying a solid eighth of the 15 cars.
| Cla | Num | Driver | Chassis | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 |  Oliver Jarvis  Tristan Nunez | Mazda DPi | 1'10.705 | |
| 2 | 7 |  Helio Castroneves Ricky Taylor | Acura DPi | 1'10.727 | 0.022 |
| 3 | 6 | Dane Cameron  Juan Pablo Montoya | Acura DPi | 1'10.806 | 0.101 |
| 4 | 31 | Felipe Nasr Pipo Derani | Cadillac DPi | 1'11.721 | 1.016 |
| 5 | 5 |  Joao Barbosa Filipe Albuquerque | Cadillac DPi | 1'12.320 | 1.615 |
| 6 | 55 | Jonathan Bomarito Ryan Hunter-Reay | Mazda DPi | 1'12.326 | 1.621 |
| 7 | 10 |  Renger van der Zande Jordan Taylor | Cadillac DPi | 1'12.525 | 1.820 |
| 8 | 84 |  Simon Trummer  Stephen Simpson | Cadillac DPi | 1'12.595 | 1.890 |
| 9 | 50 | Will Owen Kyle Kaiser | Cadillac DPi | 1'13.394 | 2.689 |
| 10 | 85 |  Mikhail Goikhberg  Tristan Vautier | Cadillac DPi | 1'13.570 | 2.865 |
| 11 | 38 | Kyle Masson Cameron Cassels | ORECA LMP2 | 1'14.877 | 4.172 |
| 12 | 54 | Jon Bennett Colin Braun | Nissan DPi | 1'17.321 | 6.616 |
| 13 | 66 | Sébastien Bourdais  Dirk Muller | Ford GT | 1'19.124 | 8.419 |
| 14 | 912 |  Earl Bamber  Laurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR | 1'19.399 | 8.694 |
| 15 | 24 |  Jesse Krohn John Edwards | BMW M8 GTE | 1'19.623 | 8.918 |
| 16 | 4 | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner | Corvette C7.R | 1'19.721 | 9.016 |
| 17 | 67 |  Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook | Ford GT | 1'19.724 | 9.019 |
| 18 | 25 | Tom Blomqvist Connor de Phillippi | BMW M8 GTE | 1'19.893 | 9.188 |
| 19 | 3 |  Jan Magnussen  Antonio Garcia | Corvette C7.R | 1'19.919 | 9.214 |
| 20 | 911 | Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy | Porsche 911 RSR | 1'20.026 | 9.321 |
| 21 | 52 | Matt McMurry Eric Lux | ORECA LMP2 | 1'21.752 | 11.047 |
| 22 | 14 | Richard Heistand Jack Hawksworth | Lexus RC F GT3 | 1'24.281 | 13.576 |
| 23 | 33 | Ben Keating Jeroen Bleekemolen | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 1'26.109 | 15.404 |
| 24 | 12 | Frankie Montecalvo Townsend Bell | Lexus RC F GT3 | 1'26.451 | 15.746 |
| 25 | 19 | Will Hardeman Alex Riberas | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | 1'26.951 | 16.246 |
| 26 | 9 | Scott Hargrove Zacharie Robichon | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 1'27.113 | 16.408 |
| 27 | 96 | Bill Auberlen Robby Foley | BMW M6 GT3 | 1'27.152 | 16.447 |
| 28 | 48 | Bryan Sellers Ryan Hardwick | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 1'27.300 | 16.595 |
| 29 | 76 | Paul Holton Matt Plumb | McLaren 720S GT3 | 1'27.657 | 16.952 |
| 30 | 86 | Mario Farnbacher Trent Hindman | Acura NSX GT3 | 1'27.725 | 17.020 |
| 31 | 8 | Parker Chase Ryan Dalziel | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | 1'27.753 | 17.048 |
| 32 | 63 | Cooper MacNeil Toni Vilander | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 1'29.777 | 19.072 |
| 33 | 74 | Gar Robinson Lawson Aschenbach | Mercedes-AMG | 1'30.778 | 20.073 |
| 34 | 44 | John Potter Andy Lally | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 1'31.124 | 20.419 |
| 35 | 57 | Katherine Legge Christina Nielsen | Acura NSX GT3 | 1'31.851 | 21.146 |
| 36 | 73 | Patrick Long Marco Seefried | Porsche 911 GT3 R | ||
| View full results | |||||
Previous article
Mid-Ohio IMSA: Castroneves leads Acura Team Penske 1-2 in FP3
Next article
Mid-Ohio IMSA: Montoya, Cameron win for Acura Team Penske
About this article
| Series | IMSA |
| Event | Mid-Ohio |
| Drivers | Sébastien Bourdais , Helio Castroneves , Oliver Jarvis , Dane Cameron |
| Author | Charles Bradley |
24 Hours of Daytona Video Recap
24 Hours of Daytona: Fourth Place for Ferrari
Watch the entire Rolex 24 in just over a minute
The GTE dilemma that IMSA has created for the WEC
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s decision to scrap its GT Le Mans class for 2022 raises the question of whether the FIA World Endurance Championship should phase out GTE cars. But it's a much harder decision than it appears on the surface.
Nine things to watch at the 2021 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona
After a 100-minute sprint race to whet the appetite, the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship gets underway properly this weekend. With plenty of significant changes during the winter, here are the key points you need to keep an eye on
Why Magnussen is relishing a fresh start in sportscars
Having gone over seven years without a race win through spells with McLaren, Renault and Haas, Kevin Magnussen's departure from Formula 1 for IMSA with big-hitters Chip Ganassi Racing could give him what he craves most - a chance of success
Oliver Gavin's Corvette Racing highlights
Oliver Gavin has stepped down from the full-time Corvette Racing line-up after a stellar career with the team spanning nearly 20 years. He looks back on a stint that encompassed, among other successes, five Le Mans 24 Hours victories.
How Tandy joined an exclusive club of endurance legends
Victory at last year's Spa 24 Hours meant Nick Tandy had completed the unofficial sextuple crown of the world's six biggest endurance races, becoming the first Briton to do so. Ahead of his fresh start with Corvette Racing, he explains how he did it…
The 12 greatest Sebring 12 Hours ranked
The 2020 edition of the Florida sportscar classic is finally taking place this weekend, eight months after its traditional date in March. That meant there was plenty of time for Motorsport.com to pour over its previous 67 races and select the best.
Tony Kanaan’s top 10 races – in his own words
The 2004 IndyCar champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan probably hasn’t yet driven his final IndyCar race, but we still asked him for the 10 most significant races of his career. He explained his choices to David Malsher-Lopez.
Why the GTE ruleset looks to have run its course
The GTE ruleset has served sportscar racing in both Europe and the United States well over the past decade. But now there are clear signs that the end of its life is in sight as manufacturer support continues to fade.
