Gil de Ferran won his third straight pole position at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - seven years since his last such success - as de Ferran Motorsports continued its storybook debut season in the American Le Mans Series.
de Ferran's first pole in the American Le Mans Series followed two in the Champ Car World Series from 2000-01, and came courtesy of a record-breaking 1min 07.969secs effort in the Panasonic-backed Acura ARX-01b.
The Brazilian led a second straight overall sweep of the front row for Acura in front of thousands of Honda and Acura employees and guests. The two-time CART and former Indianapolis 500 winner qualified 0.224secs ahead of Patrón Highcroft Racing's David Brabham, who sat on the pole a week ago at Lime Rock and won the race overall with Scott Sharp.
"I have to say this is a very emotional day," a beaming de Ferran said, "We are a very young operation, and to get our first career pole in our third race of existence is unbelievable. I am absolutely over the moon. I want to say a big thank you to all the guys on the team and Honda Performance Development. The rhythm that they have been showing is unbelievable."
de Ferran just missed qualifying on the overall pole in the team's debut at Miller Motorsports Park in May, where he and co-driver Simon Pagenaud then drove from the back of the field to third overall. Pagenaud qualified the car second overall at Lime Rock a week ago, but the team suffered gearbox problems that resulted in a 14th place finish.
That issue seemed to have been solved on Friday afternoon, where de Ferran - a harmless spin in the last corner aside - was the man to beat. Unlike Salt Lake City, this time the de Ferran Acura will maintain its starting position.
"Today was all adrenaline," de Ferran added, "I knew we were close, but the car kept getting better as I kept pushing. I love qualifying; there is no consideration. It's pure speed. You don't have to look after the brakes or the tyres or the fuel. You just push it.
