SEBRING, Fla.—In a surprising twist, a pair of P2 cars qualified one-two for Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Oliver Pla in the #60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2-Honda set the fastest lap of the weekend, 1:51.217 at 121.061 mph. Only 0.174 slower was Extreme Speed Motorsports driver Luis Felipe Derani in that team’s Ligier-Honda P2.
Dane Cameron qualified third in the #31 Action Express Racing/Whelen Engineering Coyote-Corvette DP with a lap of 1:51.943, 0.552 behind Derani and 0.726 behind Pla.
[Getting the pole] “was tough for many ways,” Pla said after qualifying. “First because yesterday the crew had to repair the car overnight. Things were a little bit crazy.
“I think I love this track, I know this one is difficult but the team gave me a great car. We changed the setup because yesterday we were a little bit struggling and today it paid off, so I have to give them a huge thanks.”
Dane Cameron commented, “Some days all you do is be the best of what you are. That is what we did today and we are quite happy with that. I think we have a really good race car.
“Track conditions at Sebring change so fast with the weather and the amount of cars in other series that are running here. After the Continental Tire race the track was really different so I wasn’t quite as happy with the car as I was in the morning. But the car is still very good, and very well prepared for the race. We are starting in third, up near the front and down on the inside so it will be a good view going into Turn One. It is going to be a long 12 hours tomorrow but the Action Express boys have us well prepared.”
After the Daytona Prototypes of Action Express dominated every practice session and DPs swept the top three spots in two of the four sessions, an all-DP front row seemed inevitable. Either the P2 teams were saving something for qualifying or the weather—high 80s but partly cloudy—suited their set-ups better … or perhaps the AXR cars were testing race-, not qualifying set-ups (not at all likely.)
