Braselton, Ga. – Action Express Racing returned to the top at Road Atlanta on Friday when Christian Fittipaldi secured the pole position during qualifying for the Petit Le Mans. The No. 5 Corvette Daytona Prototype posted the fastest time of the 15-minute session with a lap of 1:14.508-seconds around the 2.54-mile road course located outside of Atlanta.
“It definitely was a great job from everyone at Action Express Racing,” said Fittipaldi following the qualifying run. “If we didn’t have a competitive car and didn’t have the effort of the whole team and Chevy behind us, we wouldn’t be in this position. We knew we had a strong car yesterday, but yesterday with all four classes on track, it was almost impossible to get in a clean lap. The track, in my opinion, was worse than yesterday but we will definitely take it. We are very happy. It’s a good start and now we’ll focus on a great race!”
The result marks the second pole of the season for Action Express Racing and the first for Fittipaldi. Sebastien Bourdais, who joins Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa in the No. 5 Corvette Daytona Prototype for the Petit Le Mans event, scored the pole for the team earlier this year at Sebring International Raceway.
Brian Frisselle was tabbed to qualify the No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype and was looking forward to converting the strong pace the team had shown in practice into a strong starting spot for Saturday’s 10-hour race. Unfortunately, Frisselle was unable to get in a flying lap when he was caught out by a car stopped on track. As the No. 9 Corvette DP crested a hill, Frisselle tried to avoid the stopped car but the No. 9’s brakes locked up and the two cars made contact.
The No. 9, which is driven by Brian Frisselle, Burt Frisselle and Jon Fogarty, will be forced to start from the rear of the field and the driving trio is eager to move forward with a strong car on Saturday.
“We are in great position,” said Team Owner Bob Johnson. “I’m sorry to see what happened to the No. 9 car. We’re really happy with the No. 5 car obviously. We’re following our plan and doing what we came here to do!”
The Petit Le Mans will go green Saturday at 11:15 AM ET. IMSA.com will stream the event LIVE and FOX Sports 2 will pick up the race in progress beginning at 3:00 PM ET.
MRN Radio will also broadcast the 10-hour race in its entirety at www.mrn.com.
