24h Le Mans
It certainly didn’t take long for the new BMW M8 GTE to score the first pole position of its burgeoning career! Young American driver Connor de Phillippi, who has not been selected to take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has given the Bavarian manufacturer first position on the starting grid at the 66th edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring in the GTLM class.
Once again, the GTLM class (GT Le Mans, the equivalent of LMGTE Pro in the U.S.) of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has lived up to its reputation during qualifying at the 2018 12 Hours of Sebring, with as many as eight cars, of the nine in the class, within the same second. And, with a time of 1:55:839, only 58 thousandths separate pole sitter Connor de Phillippi from James Calado at the wheel of Risi Competizione's #62 Ferrari, the sole representative of the Italian marque, flanked by two BMWs.
Despite demonstrating its speed during the qualifying session, the Bavarian manufacturer will still need to confirm during the race the growing pains it encountered during the Rolex 24 at Daytona in late January are now a thing of the past, certainly not a burden faced by seasoned veterans Chevrolet Corvette, one of which won Daytona, Ford GT, Porsche 911 RSR or Ferrari.
In fact, a Ferrari 488 GT3 clocked the fastest lap (1:58:710) in the GTD class thanks to Daniel Serra, winner in LMGTE Pro at Le Mans in 2017 with Aston Martin, and Tristan Vautier impressed in the Prototype class with Spirit of Daytona Racing's Cadillac DPi by scoring the overall pole one year after doing the same in the GTD class. The French driver qualified ahead of one of his fellow countrymen, Olivier Pla (with ESM's Nissan DPi), an official Ford driver at Le Mans, and the American Ricky Taylor (with Penske's Acura DPi).
PHOTO (Copyright - David Bristol/MPS Agency): BMW Team RLL's #25 BMW M8 GTE at the 2018 12 Hours of Sebring.
