Tafel Racing has taken its first pole position in the American Le Mans Series after Dirk Muller set the pace amongst the GT2 runners at Road America.

The German posted a time of 2mins 06.08secs during the session at the wheel of the #71 Ferrari 430 he shares with Dominik Farnbacher which allowed him to outpace the Risi entry of Mika Salo and Jaime Melo. It also allowed Muller to beat Melo's existing GT2 lap record for more than a second.

Muller needed just three laps to secure pole position with each of the laps he posted being under the existing lap record. With pole secured, Muller then parked the car to keep the tyres fresh for the race itself.

"We were quite optimistic about qualifying,” he said. “We knew after practice that we had a good combination and that the car was strong. I just got two really good laps, both which would have put me on pole position, which makes me very happy personally.

“I am very pleased to give Tafel Racing its first pole position here in this series. Now we need to switch back to race mode. We need to really think about the four hour race tomorrow. We need to stay cool and calm and not make any mistakes. I am really looking forward to the race. This is the best race track in America. These are really challenging corners. The whole track is very nice and challenging."

Alex Figge qualified seventh in class in the sister car he will share with team owner Jim Tafel.