American Le Mans Series

Alex Job Racing on GT2 Pole for Petit

Alex Job Racing driver Timo Bernhard drove his number 23/Alex Job Racing/Hyatt/Bell Microproducts/Porsche 911 RSR to the pole position in GT2 for the American Le Mans Series 10-hour Petit Le Mans race to be run tomorrow. Together with co-driver Romain Dumas, Bernhard will start the race from the front of the GT2 field. Teammate Emmanuel Collard posted the best qualifying effort of the year for the number 24 car to start in fourth.

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Bernhard took only four laps to put up the time to beat in GT2 today. The young German Porsche factory pilot posted a time of 1.21.932 and speed of 112 mph to take top honors in GT2 qualifying.

“I did a near perfect lap,” said Bernhard. “The tires came in at just the right time, no traffic; I hit my braking points and ran a fast time. I really did not expect to go that fast, but the car was good and the track conditions were perfect. We made some changes before qualifying and they were right-on. We have focused on doing some long runs and getting a good handling car on tires with 30-laps on them. We will have a good car for the race and Romain and I are motivated to win.”

In the companion number 24/Alex Job Racing/Bell Microproducts/Pro Vest/Porsche 911 RSR factory shoe Emmanuel Collard drove to a time of 1:22.739 for a second row starting position in GT2.

“The car felt a little nervous in the rear,” said Collard. “This morning the car was good on old tires, so we thought it would be better on new ones, not really the case. We will have a consistent car for the race and we are towards the front of the GT2 field and 10-hours is a long day. Marcel and I have gotten on well with Ian and we are looking to have a good race tomorrow.”

“Timo put up a fast number,” said Alex Job. “We were fighting a little electrical Gremlin last night and that took some focus away of what we thought would be an easy evening. The team came together and did the work in this morning’s session to get the car ready for qualifying and Timo did the rest. Both he and Romain have been fast all week. Emmanuel did a great job in the 24 car. We have them up at the front where we have felt the 24 should be all year. The team still carries the sting from our tough start at Sebring, so nothing will be left to chance tomorrow. We need to win with the number 23 and get the 24 on the podium as well.”

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