Ferrari Prances to Pole for Indianapolis 8 Hour Sports Car Race
October 16, 2021 | By Paul Kelly, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Results: Indianapolis 8 Hour Pole Shootout
The Prancing Horse strutted with authority Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as Alessandro Pierguidi drove the No. 51 AF Corse-Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 488 GT3 to the pole for the Indianapolis 8 Hour Presented by AWS.
Italian driver Pierguidi climbed to pole on his first flying lap in the 15-minute pole shootout for the top 15 cars in earlier rounds of qualifying, stopping the clocks at 1 minute, 33.456 seconds to topple the No. 32 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT from the top spot. No other driver could go quicker in the final six minutes of the session.
The No. 25 Audi Sport Team Sainteloc will join the No. 51 Ferrari on the front row after Patric Niederhouser of Switzerland turned a top lap of 1:33.514 in qualifying. The No. 99 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG GT3 just missed a front-row start by one-thousandth of a second after a best lap of 1:33.515 by Jules Gounon of France.
Joining the No. 99 Mercedes in the second row will be the teammates of the pole-sitting No. 51, as Antonio Fuoco of Italy qualified fourth at 1:33.556 in the No. 71 AF Corse-Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 488 GT3. NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie Callum Ilott is a member of the three-driver team for that car.
Just one-tenth of a second separated the top four cars in the taut, 15-minute session under sunny skies and moderate breezes at the Racing Capital of the World.
The Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli endurance sports car race starts at 10 a.m. (ET) Sunday on the 2.589-mile IMS road course layout, with the 41-car field taking the checkered flag at 6 p.m. It’s the largest-ever field at a North American event for the global series. Tickets are available at IMS.com.
Marvin Dienst of Belgium drove the No. 33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the Silver Cup class pole with a top lap of 1:34.013, good for seventh overall. Mikael Grenier of Canada won the Pro-Am class pole at 1:34.232 in the No. 75 SunEnergy 1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, good for 10th overall.