It’s the first pole of the season for Joerg Bergmeister, who set a new track qualifying lap record in GT2 in the No. 45. Teammate Seth Neiman qualified ninth out of the 15-car combined GT2 and challenge class field.
It’s also the first pole for Joerg with the Lizards, and his first ALMS pole since Road America in 2006. He commented on the session: ‘We tested at Miller Motorsports Park a few weeks ago and arrived here pretty dialed in. So over the last few days, we’ve been able to focus on the setup details. We’ve been the fastest in class at every session so far but we’ve seen the competition narrow the gap over the last two days – now we have to carry it through to the race tomorrow.
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The GT2 field is going to be tough and we’ll definitely have our work cut out for us.’
Joerg’s fastest time in qualifying was a 1:47.120 on the 3.048 mile, 15-turn circuit. He ran just a few laps in the qualifying session, then was called into the pits to wait it out as the rest of the GT2 field worked to beat his fast time. The top three GT2 cars finished with a spread of just two-tenths of a second but Joerg’s fast time held. He will start from the pole in Sunday’s Utah Grand Prix, which gets the green flag at 2:15 MT.
Flying Lizard is currently leading in the GT2 team championship. Joining Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45 is Patrick Long and joining Seth Neiman in the No. 44 is Johannes van Overbeek. Following two wins in a row at St. Petersburg and Long Beach, Bergmeister and Long are currently leading in the GT2 drivers’ championship. Neiman is currently in fourth in the drivers points chase.
