Dontje, Dalziel Grab GT World Challenge America Poles at Road America

Dontje, Dalziel Grab GT World Challenge America Poles at Road America

Elkhart Lake, WI - Indy Dontje and Ryan Dalziel scored the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS poles Saturday morning at Road America. The 30-minute qualifying session was split into two segments - the first to set the grid for Saturday afternoon's race, and the second to set the grid for Sunday's race.

Unlike Friday, the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit was dry as Mother Nature co-operated and the sun peaked through a partly cloudy sky.

Early on in the first 15-minute segment, Silver division competitor Shelby Blackstock in the #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 went to the top of charts with a 2:07.490, followed by fellow division competitor Dontje (2:08.242) in the #33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Nine minutes in, Dontje then improved his time to a 2:07.329 to top the charts and then solidified the pole with a 2:06.996. Blackstock's time held throughout the session and he will start second overall and second in Silver. Martin Fuentes, in the Squadra Corse #1 Ferrari 488 GT3 will start third and first in the Pro/Am category (2:08.254). Am division driver Fred Poordad in the #20 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.II) will start 5th overall (2:09.372).

The second qualifying segment was an intense battle for the top spot on the charts. Colin Braun, in the DXDT Racing #04 Mercedes-AMG GT3 set the early time to beat with a 2:06.476, only to see fellow DXDT Racing pilot Dalziel in the #63 Mercedes-AMG GT3 eclipse it with a 2:06.405. Rodrigo Baptista, sharing the seat with Fuentes and now in the #1 machine then posted a 2:06.224, only to have Blackstock's teammate Trent Hindman now in the #93 machine fire back with a 2:06.195. Dalziel then came back with a 2:05.882 to secure the pole. At the checkered, the top five drivers posted times that fell within 5/10s of a second. Hindman will start second overall and first in the Silver category (2:05.944), while Braun will start inside of row two (2:06.003). Poordad's teammate Max Root will start alongside Braun and tops in the Am division (2:06.145).

Results are provisional until posted final. GT World Challenge America drivers now get set for Saturday's 90-minute Round 7 race scheduled to go green at 1:45pm local time. Watch the race live on youtube.com/GTWorld.

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PROVISIONAL QUALIFYING GROUP 1 RESULTS - PDF Link

PROVISIONAL QUALIFYING GROUP 2 RESULTS - PDF Link