Jack Aitken is relishing his pole-winning run for this 12 months’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, however is skeptical of what tempo the competitors has for the race.
The 30-year-old delivered a outstanding run in qualifying, seizing the highest spot with a flying lap of 1m46.153s across the bumpy 3.74-mile, 17-turn airfield circuit. Behind the wheel of the #31 Whelen Cadillac, he fought off the likes of Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist and Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque to say the third IMSA pole of his profession, and first at Sebring Worldwide Raceway.
The one crew that was a stunning afterthought in qualifying was Porsche Penske Motorsport, who led the preliminary two observe periods on the weekend however noticed Kevin Estre put the #6 Porsche 963 in fourth (0.242s behind) and Felipe Nasr’s #7 machine resting in sixth (0.528s behind).
“We all know that we’re comparatively sturdy in qualifying,” Aitken stated. “It’s been the pattern over earlier years. Even with the Eco upgrades and stuff now we have engaged on the automotive now, it appears to be comparable.
“Undoubtedly, we’re conscious of how sturdy a few of the different vehicles are, like those you talked about. They don’t present any indicators of dropping out of the struggle. If something, they have a tendency to someway get faster because the weekend goes on. I’m not taking a lot inventory from what we’ve simply seen in qualifying. I imagine they’ll be proper there from fairly early within the race.
“We’ve acquired some homework to do nonetheless to seek out what we have to win this factor. That’s all we are able to do.”
#31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Collection.R: Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, Frederik Vesti, Connor Zilisch
Photograph by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen by way of Getty Photos
Aitken skilled firsthand the difficult tempo of Porsche, notably on the mistaken finish of a detailed battle for the win with Nasr within the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona. Moreover, although, he feels the beginning place for the once-around-the-clock crown jewel race isn’t a significant factor for the race.
“I feel it’ll be pretty inconsequential,” Aitken stated.
“It is pretty to be on pole and it is good to point out how the crew is working and placing out automotive and to get the bragging rights at some factors, however on the finish of the day, we began final in ‘25 due to a problem in qualy and we have been into the lead after lower than two hours with the assistance of yellows and stuff. So it is sort of neither right here nor there.
“We noticed that loads of vehicles which can be additional down the grid have been very fast in my observe and over longer runs yesterday, so absolutely count on that they will make their means by as effectively.”
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