The Brazilian skillfully navigated the 17-turn, 3.74-mile circuit and jumped to the top of the leaderboard with a flying lap of 1m48.152s to claim pole in the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R prepared by Action Express Racing.
Sebastien Bourdais was able to propel the Cadillac prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing to second, 0.114s behind.
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti’s No. 40 Acura ARX-06, which missed Thursday evening’s practice due to an engine change, qualified third at 0.441s behind.. Although Ricky Taylor, in sister WTR Andretti entry, set the fastest time in GTP, he received extra work on the machine during the red flag, which voided his overall time of 1m48.038s.
The No. 7 Porsche Penske 963 of Felipe Nasr was fifth, 1.027s behind.
The No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng seized fourth at only 0.667s. Phil Hanson had the top time of 1m51.441s in the No. 85 Porsche 963 for JDC-Miller MotorSports until a red flag brought the session to a brief stop. Hanson was left collected sixth, 1.106s off the mark.
The No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 of Matheiu Jaminet, who was out on his maiden run, had a significant shunt after his right rear on went over the curbing at the exit of Turn 1, which sent the car into a wild kickout that led to slamming the nose into the barrier. The incident brought out the red flag and left four minutes and four seconds of running the remainder of the segment.
LMP2
PJ Hyett delivered a stout 1m52.142s flyer to take his first-ever pole behind the wheel of ‘Spike’, AO Racing’s No. 99 ORECA LMP2 07.
“Yeah, I’m kind of speechless about what’s happening here,” Hyatt said. “Sebring is one of the greatest tracks in the world, and to get pole in a P2 car is a dream come true. I can’t believe it. I honestly can’t believe it.”
United Autosports USA’s No. 22 ORECA 07 of Daniel Goldburg got close to the top, but ultimately fell 0.171s off Hyatt’s pace-setting time.
After going top briefly with 10 minutes remaining in the class qualifying, Ben Keating pulled off a power slide entering Turn 3 that kicked out the rear of his No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA 07 and came to a slight halt enough to be lined up with the exit of the corner. He was able to continue and ended up 0.531s in third when the dust settled.
The No. 20 ORECA 07 MKD by High Class Racing, piloted by Dennis Andersen, was stopped on track just offline in Turn 7 to bring out the red flag in the final minute and prematurely ended the segment.
GTD and GTD Pro
Jack Hawksworth dropped a flyer of 1m58.714s to claim the GTD Pro pole in Vasser Sullivan’s No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3.
The lap came with roughly six minutes remaining, which was sizably ahead of Heart of Racing Team’s No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Marco Farnbacher by 0.550s.
AO Racing’s Seb Priaulx came away third with the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) in GTD Pro, 0.732s off Hawksworth’s time.
Winward Racing’s Philip Ellis led GTD with a lap of 1m58.778s in the No. 57 Mercedes AMG GT3, which was only 0.064s off the overall GTD class mark set by Hawksworth.
Antonio Fuoco, driving the No. 47 Ferrari 296 GT3 for Cetilar Racing, was 0.236s off of the time set by Ellis to take second in GTD.
Parker Thompson put the GTD entry for Vasser Sullivan third in class in the No. 12 Lexus, ending up 0.365s off Ellis’s time and fifth in overall GTD classes.