For much of Friday afternoon, Dion von Moltke wasn’t sure he would even get a chance to qualify after a practice incident in the rain earlier in the day forced Paul Miller Racing and Audi Customer Racing to make repairs to his No. 48 Castrol Edge Audi R8 LMS.
But not only did the team repair the wounded car in time for the qualifying session, von Moltke dug deep and avenged the incident by earning his first career TOTAL Pole Award in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) class with a lap of one minute, 33.546 seconds (90.437 mph). The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers on the streets of Belle Isle begins Saturday at 12:05 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 2, Noon ET; FOX Sports 1, 2-4 p.m. ET).
“When the car came back, we were initially wondering if we’d even make the race tomorrow,” said von Moltke, who along with co-driver Christopher Haase leads GTD points. “We have the best team in the paddock; the guys did an unbelievable job. We were able to roll out about five minutes before qualifying.
“I lost the car [in practice] and before I even knew it was gone,” he added. “I probably just made a mistake, hit a bump, and then hydroplaned. It can happen, but it’s not what you want. It was really unfortunate, but luckily, I’ve got the best team in the paddock to fix this.”
It was an impressive qualifying effort for von Moltke, who was 0.715 seconds quicker than runner-up Ben Keating in the No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R. Keating – who will immediately fly from Detroit to France following the race to practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans – lapped the 2.360-mile street circuit in 1:34.261 (89.751 mph).
The No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage of Danish speedster Christina Nielsen rounded out the top-three at 1:34.338 (89.678 mph).
The 15-minute session was stopped early for an incident involving the No. 97 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 of Michael Marsal with three minutes remaining. Marsal was able to continue with minimal damage, but will start from the back of the GTD grid.
Race day begins Saturday with a 20-minute warm-up session at 8:15 a.m. ET. Fans can follow of the action live on IMSA.com or the all-new IMSA mobile app.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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