Qualifying Results: Gil De Ferran To Take The LMP2 Pole, More Heartache for B-M Motorsports

Acura driver Gil de Ferran will take the LMP2 pole for tomorrow’s Le Mans race, and he’s totally stoked. His Acura team has only run three races together as an organization, and for Gil to take the pole with so few is a pretty big deal even if he is a former Indy 500 winner. In the post-race press conference, he made an interesting point about qualifying being like a race in and of itself, one with completely different rules from the endurance grind that is Le Mans: qualifying is just about speed, nothing else. And for once, you don’t have to worry about conserving tires, brakes, or fuel, you just go for it. He anticipates major competition tomorrow from the Audi TDI cars as well as the Penske Porsches. Marco Werner will take the LMP1 pole in one of those feared Audi R10’s.

Our B-K Motorsports LMP2, sadly, didn’t get to qualify due to an engine problem in the late afternoon. Whereas last time it was the bottom end that went bad, the new replacement motor had a problem with what on a passenger car would be the head gasket—though on a purpose-built race engine, it’s more like a thin rubber seal, and it’s pretty easy to blow. Hey, I could tell them all about head problems on a 4-cyl Mazda motor, but I kind of got the feeling it was neither the time nor the place. These guys have worked so hard, and are so clearly intense about what they’re doing, that it’d be awesome to see them soldier through and run well in tomorrow’s race. As it stands, they’ll be starting at the back of the pack. Fingers crossed!