Sebring 12 Hours: Cameron grabs pole for Acura Team Penske

Cameron, in the car he’ll share with Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud, lapped the 3.74-mile airport course in 1min45.865sec to score his first-ever pole in the IMSA Prototype category.

He beat both his teammate Helio Castroneves and Mazda Team Joest’s Tristan Nunez by 0.146sec, but the fact that Nunez set his time before Castroneves means the #77 Mazda will split the Acuras on the grid.

The second Mazda RT24-P, driven by Jonathan Bomarito, set the fastest time in the first sector but couldn’t put a strong lap together and will start seventh.

That leaves him separated from his teammate by the two Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.Rs and the similar machine of Wayne Taylor Racing.

The two JDC-Miller Caddys beat Juncos Racing’s Will Owen to claim eighth and ninth.

Jon Bennett, who traditionally starts for CORE autosport, was 4sec off the fastest Prototype, and was separated from the penultimate car by the two LMP2 Orecas.

That two-car class battle was surprisingly close, and was settled in Matt McMurry’s favor when he drove the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsport car just 0.011sec faster than Kyle Masson in the Performance Tech Motorsports entry.

#911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR, GTLM: Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy, Frederic Makowiecki

Photo by: Scott R LePage / LAT Images

In GT Le Mans, Patrick Pilet led Laurens Vanthoor in a 1-2 for the Porsche 911 RSRs, 0.143sec apart, to grab pole position with a 1min55.899sec lap in the car he’ll share with Nick Tandy and Frederic Makowiecki.

Reigning GTLM champ Antonio Garcia was third fastest in the #3 Corvette C7.R, a quarter-second off pole and just 0.031sec faster than the Ford GT of Richard Westbrook, which beat the second ’Vette of Tommy Milner by just 0.059sec.

Astonishingly, Jesse Krohn and Tom Blomqvist set identical times in the BMW M8s, 0.587sec off Pilet’s pole-winning time, and a quarter second ahead of Dirk Muller’s Ford.

#86 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX: Trent Hindman, Mario Farnbacher, Justin Marks

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

Trent Hindman delivered a knife-between-the-teeth performance to duck the Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX under the two-minute barrier and grab pole position in GT Daytona.

Driving the car he’ll share with Mario Farnbacher and Justin Marks, Hindman produced a 1min59.917sec to eclipse his nearest rival – the ever-surprising Turner Motorsport BMW M6 of Robbie Foley – by 0.382sec.

Zacharie Robichon was third quickest in the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, equidistant behind Foley and ahead of Rolf Ineichen’s Grass Racing Lamborghini.

Ineichen claimed fastest Lambo honors by only 0.065sec, as the Precision Performance Motorsports Huracan – rebuilt after Don Yount’s shunt yesterday – was fifth fastest in the hands of Brandon Gdovic. Sixth went to two-time GTD champion Christina Nielsen in the second MSR Acura.

Cooper MacNeil drove WeatherTech Racing’s Ferrari 488 – the only Ferrari in the field – to seventh, to edge ahead of Frankie Montecalvo in the faster of the two Lexus RC Fs of AIM Vasser-Sullivan.

The second Lexus had its times deleted when a team member put his hands on the car during the session - a no-no under IMSA regulations.

The Mercedes AMG-GT3s haven’t looked ultimate pacesetters this week, but Ben Keating qualified ninth in the Riley Motorsports entry, fast enough to beat the Audis of Montaplast by Land Motorsport (Daniel Morad) and Starworks Motorsport (Ezequiel Perez Companc).

Qualifying times: