The Highcroft Racing HPD-ARX 01c of David Brabham and the N°45 Flying Lizard Porsche of Patrick Long claimed pole position in the LMP and GT classes respectively at Lime Rock on Friday.

David Brabham

Just ten minutes after the end of the second free practice session, the GT runners took to the track for qualifying equipped with full wet rubber. Patrick Long (N°45 Porsche) had time to post the quickest lap (1m3.904s) before the red flag was shown following a spin by the N°2 Ferrari.

When the session resumed, however, there were only five minutes remaining and neither Wolf Henzler (2nd, N°17 Falken Porsche) nor Jaime Melo (3rd, N°62 Risi Ferrari) had time to improve. The N°3 Corvette and the N°61 Risi Ferrari of Mika Salo rounded off the GT top-five.

In the prototype class, David Brabham (Highcroft Racing HPD-ARX01c) and Klaus Graf (Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder) both put in incredibly spectacular runs despite the torrential rain.

The Australian claimed a benchmark lap of 1m0.233s before Graf closed to within three-thousandths of a second. Both drivers then passed beneath the minute mark round the 2.4km track, but David Brabham remained at the top of the order with a best effort of 58.106s.

The Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda (Guy Smith) and Drayson Racing’s Lola-Judd (Cocker) qualified on the second row, ahead of the N°37 AER Lola and the best-placed LMPC runner (Christophe Bouchut).

Highcroft Racing, Lime Rock Park, qualifications