BMW scored a home pole for team principal Bobby Rahal as the team seeks its first Mid-Ohio win since returning to the American Le Mans Series with its M3s in 2009.
Jorg Mueller put the No. 55 car on pole in the GT class for the second time this season, but unlike Lime Rock where Bill Auberlen took the pole and the team was forced to start from pit lane due to a pre-race fuel leak, this time they seek to actually start in P1.
Guy Cosmo led the rest of the runners, as he took his No. 02 Extreme Speed Ferrari to its first front-row start of the year, ahead of Patrick Long in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche and Johannes van Overbeek in the sister ESM 458. Extreme Speed scored its first ALMS win last race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park after the No. 45 Porsche was disqualified for failing the post-race stall test.
The two Corvettes and Joey Hand in the second BMW Team RLL M3 completed the top seven, all separated by just 0.456 of a second.
Sascha Maassen, making his 100th ALMS start this weekend, lines up eighth in the Paul Miller Porsche ahead of Falken's Porsche, the defending GT class winners (having also started ninth last year) and the only SRT Viper that qualified, in the hands of Marc Goossens (RIGHT, co-driver with Tommy Kendall). The second Viper had an electrical misfire and will change engines in advance of Saturday's race.
Lucas Luhr kept Muscle Milk Pickett Racing's roll alive with the team's fourth pole of the season overall and in P1 in its HPD ARX-03a. Chris Dyson did well to get the Dyson Racing Lola B12/66 Mazda within seven tenths in qualifying, as the car has been seconds off the pace at Monterey and Mosport. Dyson has ran particularly well at Mid-Ohio in years past.
Christophe Bouchut scored the P2 pole for Level 5, also in an HPD but the P2-spec ARX-03b, with Marino Franchitti securing the PC class pole for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. Franchitti's two race starts this year – the 24 Hours of Le Mans and last ALMS round in Mosport – have not seen him turn a single race lap as his car (Nissan DeltaWing, PR1/Mathiasen car) have been involved in accidents prior to his stints!
Damien Faulkner put in a last-lap flier to give Green Hornet the GTC pole ahead of Jeroen Bleekemolen. The Irishman was three tenths quicker in the rebuilt car after his co-driver Peter LeSaffre was also involved with the PR1 car in its Mosport accident. Bleekemolen steps back into GTC this race with Tim Pappas in the gold JDX Porsche.
Race coverage starts at 12:50 p.m. Eastern Saturday with enhanced coverage on ALMS.com, followed by live TV on ABC at 2:00 p.m.