Melo and Mika Salo are the defending GT2 Series champions, but have struggled in the first half of the season. However, a class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Gianmaria Bruni and a third-place finish last week at Lime Rock has the team pointed in the right direction again.
"After Le Mans, I think we turned the page and have gained more confidence," Melo said, "Everything in the programme is still the same. We have been competitive since the first race, so we need to keep looking forward and not in the past. Through to the end of the season, I think we can keep improving."
Melo spun the car at Turn 13 late in the session, but had enough time to go back out and post his pole time, despite battling temperatures - which reached in excess of 124 degrees - and a troublesome air conditioning system in the car.
"We will race with the cool suit as well just to be safe," Melo said, "We didn't in Lime Rock and it was very hard."
The top four GT2 cars qualified within 0.299secs of the class pole, with Flying Lizard Motorsports' Wolf Henzler placing third for the team that has won three times at Mid-Ohio in the last four years.
