Proton Competition’s brace of Ford Mustangs popularly locked out the front row of the grid in the LMGT3 category on the Blue Oval’s home turf in Texas, at the end of a dramatic qualifying session held in challenging conditions at Circuit of The Americas today.
The ten-minute Hyperpole shootout ultimately boiled down to an internecine duel between the two American cars, piloted by Ben Tuck (#77) and Giammarco Levorato (#88), with the Briton and Italian trading quickest times as the clock ticked down.
Tuck was the first of the Proton pair to complete his final run, deposing his team-mate as he vaulted to the top of the timesheets – but Levorato was not done. Despite failing to improve through the long middle sector of the 5.513km lap, the 22-year-old rising sportscar star dug deep to reclaim pole position for tomorrow’s Lone Star Le Mans by the margin of a mere 0.018 seconds.
Even more extraordinarily, the #88 Mustang had not even been due to take part in Hyperpole after Stefano Gattuso just missed the cut in Q1, until the #87 Lexus was disqualified from third place due to Petru Umbrărescu taking the chequered flag twice.
“Stefano found some traffic on his fastest lap, which left him 11th so we were out of Hyperpole, and I was getting changed and ready to go back to the hotel,” revealed Levorato, who last year similarly clinched the Mustang’s maiden GT3 pole position in North America’s IMSA series. “Then I had to jump back into the car really quickly – the session had already been going for a few seconds!
“The conditions were not full rain, but it was still slippery for sure and there was no reference. This is also the first time for me at COTA, and I didn’t know the kerbs and everything in the wet. The car was unbelievable, though, and a one-two for Ford is a great result. Both poles (in FIA WEC and IMSA) felt amazing, but this one is more so as it’s in the world championship at Ford’s home track.”
Sean Gelael proved to be best-of-the-rest in United Autosports’ #95 McLaren, with multiple motorcycling world champion Valentino Rossi giving BMW a boost following a tough recent run in fourth.
In the only one of TF Sport’s Corvettes to reach the top ten, Jonny Edgar initially secured fifth in the #33 entry he shares with local hero Ben Keating, but that car will drop three places on the grid due to a penalty for the Texan for contact.
Lone Star Le Mans will get underway at 13:00 local time (20:00 CET) tomorrow (Sunday, 7 September).
Check out the full LMGT3 grid for the race.
Watch FIA WEC live or on-demand via the official FIA WEC TV app – your full-access pass to the FIA World Endurance Championship including the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans. Don’t miss a moment. For further information, check out the app.
