| CarBahn BMW, Herta Hyundai Seek To Extend Win Streaks After Sebring May 9, 2025By Tony DiZinnoIMSA Wire Service |
| Qualifying Results MONTEREY, Calif. – On the heels of winning the most recent IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS) class race at Sebring International Raceway, the No. 39 CarBahn by Peregrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO is off to a strong start a cross-country drive away in Monterey. Sean McAlister, who shares the No. 39 BMW with Jeff Westphal, secured his second career Michelin Pilot Challenge pole (Daytona 2024 was his first) with a best lap of 1 minute, 29.364 seconds (90.156 mph) around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca circuit. Saturday’s two-hour WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120, Round 3 of the season, is part of the TireRack.com Monterey SportsCar Championship weekend. Westphal is a past Monterey winner, having won in GS with CarBahn in 2020. McAlister set his fastest lap on his ninth and final timed lap as track temperatures cooled into the 90-degree Fahrenheit range after hovering well above 100 most of the day, under sunny, cloudless, 75-degree ambient temperatures. His lap beat Moisey Uretsky, in the No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4, by just 0.009 of a second. Uretsky and Michael Cooper won the season-opening BMW M Endurance Challenge four-hour race at Daytona; McLaren won at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last year with another team. A second BMW, the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO qualified by Dillon Machavern, ended third. He’ll share the car with Francis Selldorff. Meanwhile the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR continued its qualifying prowess in Touring Car (TCR). After Bryson Morris won the first two Motul Pole Awards of the season in Daytona and Sebring, co-driver Mark Wilkins continued the streak on Friday with the car’s third pole in as many races this year. The 2019 TCR class champion scored only his second career Michelin Pilot Challenge pole, with his last coming at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last September. Wilkins turned in a best time of 1 minute, 30.245 seconds (89.276 mph), He is a two-time TCR winner at the track (2021, 2023). Morris and Wilkins finished second at Daytona and won on the road in Sebring before being sent to the rear of the field there for having a refueling time less than the permitted minimum of 52 seconds. There’s some unfinished business for the No. 33 Herta Hyundai since the sister entries of Denis Dupont and Preston Brown in their No. 76 Elantra (Daytona) and Mason Filippi and Harry Gottsacker in their No. 98 Elantra (Sebring) won the first two races of the year. IMSA 3D Scholarship recipient Celso Neto, who will share his No. 7 Precision Racing LA Audi RS3 LMS TCR with Ryan Eversley, qualified a season-best second place at 0.088 of a second in arrears. Gottsacker, in the No. 98 Hyundai, qualified third. You can watch Saturday’s WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 live, flag-to-flag beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on Peacock (and globally, ad-free, courtesy of Michelin via IMSA’s Official YouTube channel). Two Porsche GS Lineups Change Two Grand Sport (GS) class entries had late driver changes following the entry list release, both Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS cars. Eric Filgueiras steps into the No. 17 UniTronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche alongside Chris Miller. Mikey Taylor is out of the car for good reason as he’s at home following the birth of his new son. Filgueiras and Taylor crafted a “contingency plan” to where he’d be available on standby if Taylor was unavailable. Once the call was made to draft Filgueiras in, the RS1 Porsche veteran headed West to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where he’s finished second before. “I’m excited and honored to have the opportunity to drive with UniTronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports and I have to thank Mikey Taylor for the call to sub in for him,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting rolling with Chris and the entire team and happy to be back with the Porsche brand.” One other change occurs with the No. 66 CDR Valkyrie Porsche, as Matt Brabham fills in for Amir Haleem alongside Brian Lock. Brabham co-drove the No. 99 AO Racing “Spike” the Dragon ORECA LMP2 07 in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class and has had extensive open-wheel experience before adding more sports car content to his career the last several years. |
