Ferrari posted the fastest average speed at the Brickyard in the Pro Am category as Squadra Corse looks to wrap up the SRO GT World Challenge America championship in Sunday’s season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour. Qualifying was held in three 15-minute segments for each of the three drivers for each team. The starting position for Sunday’s race was determined by the average speed of the three pilots.
Pro-Am. Martin Fuentes enters the finale with a commanding 49-point lead in his class after eight races in the No. 1 Squadra Corse Hublot Ferrari 488 GT3. Fuentes led the Pro Am drivers during the opening qualifying group, turning 1:25.035-seconds on his first lap at speed, good for eighth overall. Being the Am driver in the lineup, Fuentes again hit the bricks with the second group, improving to 1:24.817-seconds. Alessandro Balzan qualified with the third group, with his lap of 1:23.206-seconds third quickest overall and fastest of the Pro Am cars. Balzan’s lap also moved the No. 1 Ferrari to the top of the Pro Am field based on the best average lap time from the three sessions. Rounding out the lineup will be Ferrari Challenge graduate Mark Issa. He is filling in for Rodrigo Baptista, who was forced to miss the event due to a European schedule conflict after joining Fuentes in five victories this season, three of them overall.
Overall. Oregon-based Vital Speed is competing in the Overall category, with Trevor Baek, Ryan Briscoe and Jeff Westphal sharing the yellow No. 6 Ferrari 488 GT3. Baek was seventh in the overall class during the opening round with a lap of 1:24.312-seconds. Briscoe’s best lap was 1:23.768-seconds, fifth-best in the second group. Westphal ran with the third group, running 1:23.774-seconds to give the team an average of 1:24.312-seconds, eighth-best overall.
Schedule. The Indianapolis 8 Hour is set to start at 10 a.m. ET. on Sunday.