“The strategy was to save the tyres,” said Bergmeister, who won his first pole position since 2006. “We tested for a couple of days right after Long Beach, so we only had to make a few changes for qualifying. The first lap was really good and we didn't think we could improve. It was close at the end, I have to say.”


Gruppe Orange's Carl Skerlong was the winner of the first Challenge class pole position with a lap of 1min 56.166secs in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry that he will share with Nick Parker. The Challenge class is new for the American Le Mans Series, offering an opportunity for teams and drivers from the Patrón GT3 Challenge by Yokohama to step up to American Le Mans Series competition.

Skerlong's best lap was a slim 0.006 seconds ahead of Martin Snow in the Snow Racing Porsche he will share with Melanie Snow. The husband-wife duo won in GTS during the first Series race in 1999 at Sebring. Skerlong has raced at Miller Motorsports Park in two previous seasons including Formula Atlantic in 2008. This weekend is his first time racing a Porsche 911.

“This car weighs more and doesn't have as much power but it is such a fun car to drive,” he said. “It's been a learning curve. Hopefully we can keep improving and perform just as well for the race. I did an hour Friday and an hour this morning in practice. To get this much seat time during the program has been great. So far it's been wonderful. Everything has gone so smoothly and has been great.”



Bob Faieta, a two-time champion in IMSA GT3 competition, qualified third in class at 1min 56.248secs in the entry that he will share with Wesley Hoaglund.