Jack Aitken earned his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole position, inheriting the top qualifying spot with the No. 31 Cadillac for the Battle On The Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the lap time for the No. 60 Acura was disqualified.
Three hours after Tom Blomqvist had set the top speed in qualifying with a 1-minute, 14.569-second lap in the No. 60 ARX-06 for Acura Meyer Shank Racing, IMSA announced that the car had “failed to comply within LMDh bodywork tolerances.”
The No. 60 will drop to the 12th starting spot (last in the premier Grand Touring Prototype category) for the start of Sunday’s race. The qualifying disqualification nullified what would have been the fourth consecutive pole for Acura MSR. Blomqvist had led GTP in both practice sessions on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
STARTING GRIDS: Click here for the Indianapolis starting lineup l Lineup by row l Lineup by car number
With the penalty to Acura, Cadillac swept the top three spots in qualifying. Louis Deletraz will line up second beside Aitken in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, and Ricky Taylor will start third in WTR’s No. 10.
It’s the first pole since the 2024 Petit Le Mans for Cadillac, which is seeking its first win this season.
Aitken, who shares the No. 31 Whelen Action Express entry with Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti, turned a lap of 1 minute, 14.610 seconds (117.683 mph).
“I think all the Cadillacs showed pretty well,” Aitken said. “I think we’re in a good place. I’m pleased that we’ve come out today with a strong car and a strong car for tomorrow.”
The championship-leading No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell will roll off from fourth, with the second Acura – the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 of Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly and Kaku Ohta – completing the top five.
Matt Campbell qualified fourth in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, which was five spots ahead of PPM’s championship-leading No. 7 963.
Nick Yelloly, Blomqvist’s MSR Acura teammate, qualified fifth in the No. 93 ARX-06, which was aiming for its fourth consecutive pole.
It was a disappointing qualifying session for BMW M Team RLL, which started the 2025 season with three consecutive poles. The Nos. 24 and No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8s, which finished 1-2 last at Indy, qualified sixth and seventh.
Here are the pole-sitters in other categories for Sunday’s six-hour race, which will start at 11:30 a.m. ET on Peacock (and also on NBC from 3-6 p.m.):
LMP2: Nick Boulle, No. 2 United Autosports Oreca LMP2 07, 1 minute, 17.846 seconds
GTD Pro: Dan Harper, No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 1:23.259
GTD: Casper Stevenson, No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO, 1:23.088
INDIANAPOLIS QUALIFYING ROUNDUP
Starting lineup
Starting lineup by row
Starting lineup by car number
Results
Results by class
Fastest lap by driver
Fastest lap by driver after qualifying
Fastest lap by driver and class after qualifying
Best sector times
Fastest lap sequence
Time cards
Weather report
PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II
