Jack Aitken qualified fourth for the Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, ensuring the No. 31 Cadillac driver can clinch the Grand Touring Prototype championship by starting Saturday’s season finale for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Tom Blomqvist captured the pole position for the 10-hour race in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 with a 1-minute, 9.703-second lap (131.184 mph) around the 12-turn, 2.54-mile road course in Braselton, Georgia.
Aitken increased his lead in the GTP standings to 151 points over Lauren Heinrich, who qualified seventh in the Porsche Penske Motorsport No. 7 963. Aitken needs only to roll off the grid in his Cadillac V-Series.R to sew up the driver championship.
STARTING GRIDS: Starting lineup l Lineup by row l Lineup by car number
His Cadillac Whelen Racing team will also clinch the team title by leaving the grid, and Cadillac will capture its 11th IMSA manufacturer championship and fifth since 2017.
“It’s been a long year and feels like we’ve got it done slightly early, which is a bit surreal after such a hard battle,” Aitken told NBC Sports’ Matt Yocum. “I can only say a massive thank you to all the boys and girls here at Whelen Cadillac. And Cadillac put an awesome car out from the word go. We’ve had a lot of fun, and it means we can go out and race properly tomorrow, so going to enjoy that one, too.”
Nick Yelloly qualified second in the No. 93 ARX-06, giving Acura a front row sweep before exiting IMSA’s premier hybrid prototype category for at least the 2027 season. Blomqvist has three pole positions at Road Atlanta, including the past two.
“I really enjoy this place, especially in qualifying; it’s always been good to me,” Blomqvist said. “I think today was more about executing more than anything. The expectation was to fight for pole. Obviously, the team did a fantastic job with the 1-2. But we know obviously today is one thing and tomorrow is a very different one.”
Here are the pole-sitters in other categories for Saturday’s 10-hour race, which will begin shortly after noon ET on NBC and Peacock:
- LMP2:PJ Hyett earned his first pole position in more than a year with the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07.
- GTD Pro: Neil Verhagen qualified first in the Paul Miller Racing No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, which cut into the points lead of the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
- GTD: Philip Ellis extended Winward Racing’s points lead, putting the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the pole position in pursuit of its third consecutive GTD championship.
Petit Le Mans qualifying roundup
Starting lineup
Lineup by row
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
Flag analysis with race control messages
Weather report
