Fast Start for Ferrari in World Challenge Qualifying at Sonoma

Ferrari captured a pair of pole positions for each of this weekend’s Blancpain GT World Challenge America events at Sonoma Raceway in qualifying on Saturday.

Pro.  Miguel Molina made the most of his set of fresh Pirelli tires to capture the pole for the Saturday race in the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3. Molina shot to the top with his first flying lap of the 15-minute session on the 2.4-mile circuit, running 1:37.667-seconds. He went even faster on his second lap, 1:37.310, and then parked the Ferrari in pit lane, correctly confident that the time would stand up for the pole while also intending to save his Pirellis for the race. Vilander added a Pro class pole position in the second 15-minute session to set the field for the Sunday race. He ran a fast lap of 1:37.013-seconds to lead the Pro competitors, and will start the event on the outside of the front row alongside a Pro-Am Cup competitor.

Pro-Am.  Patrick Byrne had the fastest Ferrari in Saturday’s opening Pro-Am Cup session, running a quick time of 1:39.965-seconds in the TR3 Racing’s No. 31 Ferrari 488 GT3, good for sixth in the class. He was closely followed by Chris Cagnazzi, who ran seventh-fastest at 1:40.154 in the No. 19 One11 Competition Ferrari 488 GT3. In qualifying for the Sunday race, TR3 Racing’s Guy Cosmo was fourth, posting a best time of 1:38.229-seconds in the No. 31 Ferrari. Racing a Ferrari for the first time this weekend, Andy Lally was eighth fastest in One11 Competition’s No. 19 Ferrari, 1:38.772, while teammate Matt Plumb was 10th fastest in the No. 99, running 1:38.989-seconds.

Am.  Squadra Corse captured the pole for both weekend races in the Am division. Caesar Bacarella led the opening session with a fastest lap of 1:41.008-seconds in the No. 7 Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3. Martin Fuentes led the class in the second session with his quick time of 1:39.425-seconds. The two drivers have combined to win 13 of the last 14 races they have contested, including five in a row. They are undefeated in four starts in 2019.

Schedule.  Saturday’s opening race takes the green flag at 2:45 p.m. for 90 minutes of racing, with the final 90-minute race on Sunday at 11:15 a.m. (all times PT) Both races will be streamed live on gt-world-challenge-america.com, with Sunday’s contest also broadcast live on the CBS Sports Network.