Jarvis Inherits Top Starting Spot For Rolex 24 Qualifier

It wasn’t the typical path to the front of the pack, but Oliver Jarvis will take it.

Driving the No. 55 Mazda Motorsports Mazda DPi, Jarvis was second fastest in qualifications Saturday at Daytona International Speedway for Sunday’s Motul Pole Award 100 – the qualifying race that will determine the starting order for the Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 30-31.

But when the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi that had set the best lap failed post-qualifying technical inspection for being underweight, Jarvis and the No. 55 moved to the head of the grid.

“I just found out we’ve been promoted to pole,” Jarvis said during the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship night practice session. “I’d rather do it on the track but that pole at Daytona is always special. … Any pole is special but this one in particular. I love this track, such an amazing race.”

Jarvis’ timed lap of 1 minute, 34.442 seconds (135.702 mph) puts the No. 55 Mazda that he’ll share with Harry Tincknell on the point for the 100-minute qualifying race. Starting alongside on the front row in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class will be the No. 5 Mustang Sampling/JDC-Miller Motorsports with Tristan Vautier and Loic Duval at the wheel.

“You always want to start out front and try and stay out of trouble,” Jarvis said, “which is working for our program now. I think we’ve got a good race car as well, so we’re hopeful for tomorrow. … I think we’ll be strong tomorrow but never underestimate the competition.”

The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac, meanwhile, slips to sixth on the DPi and overall starting grid, with 49 cars in five classes expected to take the green flag at 2:05 p.m. ET Sunday.

The competition promises to be close. In Saturday’s qualifying, the top six DPi cars were separated by less than six-tenths of a second. The outlier in DPi was the “star car,” the No. 48 Ally Cadillac Racing Cadillac that’s not a full-season entry, with seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson qualifying. He and Kamui Kobayashi, the two-time defending Rolex 24 winner, will co-drive the No. 48 on Sunday and be joined by Simon Pagenaud and Mike Rockenfeller for the Rolex 24.

The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05, qualified by Filipe Albuquerque, had its rear wing and rear bodywork found out of compliance in technical inspection and also moved to the back of its class for the race.

Not only is Rolex 24 starting position up for grabs on Sunday. Under the new WeatherTech Championship scoring format, qualifying points will also be earned. The winner of each class nets 35 points, second place 32 and incrementally downward after that.

Keating, No. 52 PRI Mathiasen Motorsports Top LMP2 Qualifying

Ben Keating recorded the fastest lap in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, at 1:37.368 (131.624 mph) in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07. He’ll start eighth overall Sunday with co-driver Mikkel Jensen.

Keating’s lap topped Dennis Andersen, who was clocked at 1:38.532 in the No. 20 High Class Racing ORECA. Keating will pull double duty in the Rolex 24, co-driving the No. 97 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

The wet, cool conditions Saturday didn’t create as much trouble as Keating expected.

“The temps were cold, (and it was) a wet track,” he said. “(We) weren’t sure if the curbs were going to be wet or not. And it takes time to get heat into the prototype tires. I was expecting it to be really sketchy, but I was delighted when we got out there and had a lot of grip. It felt really good in the car.”

The No. 51 RWR-Eurasia Ligier LMP2 was found out of compliance with its rear wing in technical inspection and moved to the rear of the 10-car class grid for Sunday’s race.

Kranz Fastest Qualifier In New LMP3 Class

Moritz Kranz took the top position in Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) – the class debuting this season in the WeatherTech Championship – with a lap of 1:42.384 (125.176 mph) in the No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America Duqueine M30-D08. That topped the fastest lap of 1:43.623 by Ryan Norman in the No. 7 Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine.

Kranz, who earlier in the day won the IMSA Prototype Challenge Scouts of America 145, will team with Laurents Hoerr as the No. 6 car starts 18th overall in Sunday’s qualifying race.

“It was a little bit hectic after my last race because I also had to drive for qualifying as well,” said Kranz, a native of Linz am Rhein, Germany, who raced the LMP3 in the Michelin Le Mans Cup last season. “After the celebration, I had to pick up my stuff and run around the grounds to be back in the car on time.

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Wittman Fast GTLM Qualifier For Motul Pole Award 100

Considering he hadn’t driven the car until a day prior, Marco Wittman’s effort Saturday in Motul Pole Award 100 qualifying is all the more impressive.

A long-time BMW factory driver, Wittman joined No. 24 BMW Team RLL for this year’s attempt to repeat as GT Le Mans (GTLM) winner in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The 31-year-old German didn’t drive the BMW M8 GTE until testing began Friday at the Roar Before the Rolex 24, but that didn’t stop him from setting the fastest qualifying time for his class on Saturday.

In slick conditions, Wittman toured the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course in 1 minute, 42.980 seconds (124.451 mph) to secure the first GTLM starting position in Sunday’s 100-minute race that sets the starting grid for the Rolex 24 on January 30-31.

“Yesterday was actually the first laps ever for me in the M8 GTE,” Wittman said, “so every lap (I’m) trying to get more into the car, feeling the confidence, and then I have to say that the qualifying went pretty good. It was a bit tricky because there were some damp spots on track, but it worked out pretty well and I’m happy with the result. It’s just the beginning, it’s a long week, but it’s been a good start.”

Wittman is teaming in the No. 24 with John Edwards, Jess Krohn and Augusto Farfus – the latter trio all members of last year’s Rolex 24 GTLM winner. Wittman and Farfus will share the car for the Motul Pole Award 100, which limits each entry to two drivers.

Wittman said the primary benefit of being fastest qualifier for a qualifying race is the emotional boost it provides.

“It’s always good to start in the right way, in a good way – also to keep the motivation high for the team,” he said. “There is a lot of work behind (the scenes). All of the mechanics, the engineers, hands on, it’s always great to know if you’re bringing a good result. It keeps the motivation and the spirit high.”

The team’s second car, the No. 25 BMW, was second quick in qualifying, which Timo Glock clocked at 1:43.623 (123.679 mph) on his best lap.

Hardwick Savors Unofficial First Pole In GTD

Don’t tell Ryan Hardwick that being the fastest GT Daytona (GTD) qualifier for the Motul Pole Award 100 doesn’t count as a pole position. He’s going to enjoy it even if it isn’t considered official in the WeatherTech Championship record books.

“This is all new for us, this entire qualifying process,” Hardwick said after turning a lap of 1:46.831 (119.965 mph) that made him the best of 19 GTD qualifiers for Sunday’s race. Since the Motul Pole Award for the upcoming Rolex 24 At Daytona is determined from the results of the qualifying race, Saturday’s effort doesn’t count as Hardwick’s first career pole position.

“That felt like this was my first, I guess not quite officially, a pole in the WeatherTech Championship, but I’m going to take it as such,” he said. “I didn’t get the Motul sticker but I’m going to remember this one for a long time. It was a great lap, probably one of the best laps I’ve ever put together.”

The driver of the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R was proud of his accomplishment in the treacherous conditions that saw light rain fall intermittently throughout the day.

“It’s really rewarding for me to put together a lap like that in the conditions that we had today,” Hardwick said. “It was raining in the frontstretch every lap and going into turn 1 was super slick, and then it was kind of dry in other parts of the track. You had to be really disciplined to understand when you could push and when you had to be a little reserved, so it took a little bit of balance today.”

Hardwick’s lap was 0.264 seconds better than Simon Mann in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3. The top six GTD qualifiers came within a half-second of each other.

Hardwick, who will team with his full-season co-driver, Patrick Long, in Sunday’s qualifying race, isn’t sure what to expect, especially since the car sustained significant damage from an incident during Saturday night’s practice session.

“Normally in a 100-minute race, track position is key,” he said. “I don’t think anyone knows how it’s going to go tomorrow.”

The Motul Pole Award 100 streams live on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold beginning at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, with NBCSN coverage airing at 4:30 p.m.