TUSC - Krohn Racing and Ligier score the pole at the 12 Hours of Sebring!
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TUSC - Krohn Racing and Ligier score the pole at the 12 Hours of Sebring!

The drivers who clinched the pole in each of the four classes at the 63rd edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring, second round of the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season, have all claimed a class podium finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

After having dominated three of the four free practice sessions, a Ligier JS P2 clocked the best time at qualifying with no distruption even though the red flag was brought out several times during the warm-up sessions.

The Krohn Racing and Michael Shank Racing teams, both boasting a Ligier, took turns at the top of the timesheet after the free practice sessions, with the exception of the very first one, dominated by the Corvette DP of João Barbosa, Le Mans native Sébastien Bourdais and Christian Fittipaldi, the winners of the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

At the final session, Ozwaldo "Ozz" Negri prevailed with his Ligier JS P2 powered by Honda, Krohn Racing's sister car powered by Judd following closely behind, proof of the speed of the prototype designed and fabricated by Onroak Automotive, located next to the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans. For the 12 Hours of Sebring, Tracy Krohn and his loyal teammate Nic Jönsson welcomed heavy duty reinforcements in the form of Oliver Pla, legendary driver for the Le Mans constructor and its outfit OAK Racing, who recently became an official Nissan driver.

It was in the very last lap that the French driver gave the green and blue Ligier the pole on the starting grid. With a lap in 1:51:152, Pla blew away the 2014 pole (1:51:917) of Sébastien Bourdais, who has claimed three overall podiums at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with his closest pursuer more than three-tenths behind, the No. 1 HPD ARX-03b-Honda of Extreme Speed Motorsports, in the hands of Ryan Dalziel, victorious in the LM P2 class at the 2012 24 Hours. The American outfit managed by Scott Sharp decided temporarily to leave the new Honda in the garage opting for the venerable ARX-03b to give the Japanese manufacturer's new Honda time to develop. The two LM P2 prototpyes were the only ones to go below 1:52, ahead of Action Express Racing's Corvette DP, winner at Daytona last year.

In GTLM, on the other hand, it was a surprise guest who scored the pole since the No. 912 official Porsche of Frédéric Makowiecki, third in the LM GTE Pro class at the last 24 Hours of Le Mans, never got beyond fourth position during the free practice. Though no competitor clocked as low as 1:59, no less than six cars did so during qualifying.

With seven cars figuring in the same second, once again the class illustrates how tight the competition is. Though the official Porsche, with a lap in 1:58:587 has nearly a three-tenths' lead, the gaps thereafter are very close with five competitors in less than two-tenths! The German manufacturer, who won the class at the 62nd edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring, has put the odds on its side to retain its trophy with its two cars on the first row ahead of the No. 3 Corvette of Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe, the winners of the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.

Though the Viper that won the opening round of the championship did not clinch the pole, another Viper did achieve a good performance thanks to Jeroen Bleekemolen, despite mechanical issues which brought out the very first red flag of the week.The Dutch driver won in the LM P2 class at the 2008 24 Hours with the Porsche RS Spyder of Van Merksteijn, just like Martin Plowman, poleman in the PC class, did in 2013 in an OAK Racing Morgan.

The competitors will go to work shortly after dawn with the 20-minute warm-up at 8:00 a.m., and the start of the 63rd edition of the 12 Hours of  Sebring will be given at 10:40 a.m. (2:40 p.m. in the U.K.).

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