Dalziel secures Tudor pole at the Brickyard

Ryan Dalziel celebrates his pole

Michael L. Levitt – LAT Photo USA for IMSA

Ryan Dalziel on Thursday drove the Extreme Speed Motorsports No. 1 Patron HPD ARX-03b Prototype to the pole position for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship's Brickyard Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dalziel, who won the pole with a best lap of 1:17.603, will share Brickyard Grand Prix driving duties on Friday with 2001 Indianapolis 500 polesitter Scott Sharp.

"We were really good in the first practice, but we didn't know what to expect," Dalziel said. "We didn't expect the track to be this hot this time of night or for the times to be done so early in the session, usually for us we keep plugging away. Had we reversed and gone back out we would have pushed even harder on those early laps. It was a good day – it's National Tequila Day. We could not have asked for anything better."

The 2-hour, 45-minute Brickyard Grand Prix starts at 5:45 p.m. (ET) Friday on the 14-turn, 2.435-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Johannes van Overbeek qualified second at 1:17.879 in the No. 2 Extreme Motorsports Patron HPD ARX-03b that he'll share Friday with Ed Brown. Indy Lights veteran Gustavo Yacaman was third at 1:17:908 in the No. 42 Oak Racing Morgan Nissan that he'll share with Ho Pin Tung.

Colin Braun won the pole position for the third time this season in the PC class with a fastest lap of 1:19.849 in the No. 54 CORE Autosport ORECA FLM09 Chevrolet that he'll share with Jon Bennett. Qualifying second in the PC class was six-time Indianapolis 500 starter Bruno Junqueira with his time of 1:20.076. Junqueira will team up with Duncan Ende in driving the No. 09 RSR Racing Linospresso USA ORECA FLM09 Chevrolet in tomorrow's race.

"It was a good run," Junqueira said. "I had four or five laps 1 minute, 20 (seconds) flat, I couldn't go below the 20. It was a very close qualifying. The team did a good job to improve the car from practice. The car wasn't good. But the car was decent in qualifying, and I'm happy to start on the front row. This is the first time I've been here on the road course. I've always been on the oval for the Indy 500. It's a very nice track, very nice pavement – very smooth. I like the track."

Giancarlo Fisichella posted the fastest time in the GTLM class of 1:22.378 in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari that he'll share with Pierre Kaffer. Fisichella was an eight-time starter in the United States Grand Prix Formula One race at IMS, with a best finish of third in 2006.

Dane Cameron drove the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW that he'll share with Paul Dalla Lana to the pole with his best lap of 1:26.058 in the GTD class.

Andy Lally won the pole for the GS class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, an event also taking place Friday at IMS. Lally's quickest lap was 1:34.821 in the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro Z/28 that he'll share with Andy Lally.

Adam Isman won the pole for the ST class at 1:39.318 in the No. 4 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche Cayman that he'll share with Remo Ruscitti.

The 2-hour, 30-minute Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race on Friday will begin at 2:35 p.m.

NASCAR Sprint cup Series and Nationwide drivers will practice on the IMS oval starting Friday morning.

Nationwide Series drivers practice from 8:30-10 a.m. and 10:30-11:25 a.m., preparing for the Lilly Diabetes 250 on Saturday. Sprint Cup drivers will begin preparations from 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. for the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com on Sunday.

Additional quotes from today's IMSA qualifying:

ADAM ISMAN (No. 04 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche Cayman, ST polewinner): "We definitely have more momentum, we missed the pole by a fraction of a second at Kansas and at Mosport, so it's nice to get a pole here. This is my first time here; this is an incredible facility. Just all the history – you can feel it. We get to be here on the same day (Friday) with NASCAR on the track." (On qualifying run): "The track felt really good. We were quickest in practice but only by a little bit. We made a couple of changes after the last practice. The changes we made definitely helped and will help us in the race. We weren't off at all; we were quickest. We felt like the car had a little bit of understeer so we dialed that out. I can't say enough about my team, Autometrics Motorsports; they worked really hard and gave me an awesome, awesome car for qualifying." (On winning the pole at Indy): "That's awesome!"

MATT BELL (No. 46 Stevenson Automotive Group Camaro Z28, GS polewinner): "It's been awhile (on the pole). A couple years ago I used to get poles all the time, so a slump like that is frustrating. But this one wasn't as much my doing as it was Team Chevy. They built an awesome new Z28. It's very well-suited here. Stevenson Automotive Group set this thing up flawlessly and they have a great strategy behind us for the race. It was just kind of 'run by the numbers' really. I just went out and did what the car could do, I wasn't really pushing unduly, and I waited for the tires to come up. When the tires started to fall off, we pitted and hoped that that would be good enough for pole." (On 2013 track vs. 2014): "I was here last year but this was the first time on the new configuration. With the new configuration, it's a whole new race track now. There are very few parts of this track that are in common with the old track, and it's very well-suited to the Z28.

COLIN BRAUN (No. 54 CORE Autosport Chevrolet, PC pole winner): "I am really happy with the run. It was a really good lap. It's cool to be on the pole here at Indy, for sure. I didn't drive the old road course, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought it had good grip. I really enjoyed it. It was fun. I was pretty happy with the whole thing. It was a pretty straightforward session for us. I think the race will be exciting. Obviously, that's the important one. The pole is nice but I am really looking forward to the race."

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA (No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari, GTLM polewinner): "It's certainly nice to be back here in Indianapolis. I got great memories here. I scored a podium with Formula One. It's a great circuit. I'm really happy to be here and proud about the qualifying session. We're on pole. The shape of the circuit is different than a few years ago, but I like it. Our car performed (well) here. I feel comfortable and confident in the car. I did a perfect lap. I'm really proud of it." (On what he thinks of the reconfigured track): "It looks nice. It's difficult to say because driving with a Formula One car and driving with a GT (Le Mans) car is different. But I prefer the circuit the way it is now."

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