Eric Filgueiras, in his GT3 debut, put the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3-R on pole position for race one of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America weekend at Sonoma with a time of 1m37.026s as the checkered flag flew.
A nearly eight-minute red flag caused by the No. 43 RealTime Racing Mercedes-AMG left just four minutes on the clock for teams to set a time. Those that got out early enough had the opportunity to set two laps, Filguerias being one.
Adam Adelson in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R was second with a time of 1m37.695s. Chandler Hull in the No. 94 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT3 was third with a 1m38.354s.
The battle for track position for the final laps of the session between Ashton Harrison and Hull cost both of them an opportunity to potentially set a quicker time. Hull was behind Harrison when they emerged from the pits and the pair were side-by-side through Turns 9a, 11, and 1 on the following lap.
Meanwhile, in the second qualifying session — which set the grid for Sunday’s race — John Edwards placed the No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 on pole position. Edwards’ lap was a 1m35.237s, some three-tenths quicker than the next best car.
Colin Braun had a small spin at Turn 2 but continued without further incident and was able to set a time of 1m37.592s, good enough for second on the grid. Daniel Morad was third in the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with a time of 1m37.814s.
Besides Braun’s spin, there were no major incidents in the second session.
Race one of the GTWCA weekend is set to go green at 6:05pm ET.