“Rexy” Porsche on Point for Home Race; Wadoux Becomes First Woman to Win WeatherTech Championship Pole Since 2018
By John Oreovicz
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – It was a day of firsts at Road America in the production car-based GT classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in qualifying for the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix.
Harry King earned his first Motul Pole Award in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) PRO class in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R that he shares with Nick Tandy.
Meanwhile, Lilou Wadoux achieved a similar first-time honor in the GTD class in the No. 21 Af Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO. Wadoux is the first female to start from pole in the WeatherTech Championship since Katherine Legge qualified for the top spot in the same class at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2018. Wadoux’s co-drivers are Simon Mann and Antonio Fuoco.
Klaus Bachler set the early GTD PRO pace in the No. 911 Porsche prepared by Manthey, but learned he would lose his benchmark 2 minute, 4.283-second lap to a track limits infringement violation. Then with under three minutes remaining in the 15-minute session, King clocked a 2:04.265 to take over the top spot. He improved next time around with the pole winning lap of 2:04.042, corresponding to an average speed of 117.482 miles per hour.
Just before King crossed the line, Neil Verhagen briefly jumped to the top with a 2:04.182 effort (117.350 mph) in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO that was ultimately good enough for the outside of the front row. Alexander Sims was another who found speed at the end, moving up to third in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R at 2:04.264 (117.272 mph). The top six were clustered within half a second.
It was the 10th pole in IMSA competition for AO Racing, but only its third in the GTD PRO class. AO’s well-known ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 won the GTD PRO championship with Laurin Heinrich (who now competes in the WeatherTech Championship’s Grand Touring Prototype class) in 2024.
Based in greater Chicago, AO Racing considers Road America its home track.
“It’s a great emotion and a great feeling, because we came so close last time out in Canada and finished second,” said King, who has notched a pair of runner-ups with Tandy in 2026 but is still seeking his first win. “We started from the front row at Watkins Glen, but to get that pole position here in the home race for AO is really special. The lap was well put together and the team worked incredibly hard leading to this weekend. They always do, but this weekend they really put in that extra bit of effort. I could really sense that.
“To complete the lap and be told we were on pole position was a fantastic emotion, so credit to all the individuals at AO Racing for putting it together.”
King believes that he and Tandy are poised on the brink of a breakthrough victory in Sunday’s six-hour race. They rank third in the GTD PRO standings, 144 points behind leaders Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi.
“The team has been doing a very good job all season,” he said. “That last little bit has clicked for us this weekend. We’ve been collecting the points, and we’re certainly not missing anything. There’s a lot of points on the table and we’re going to try to collect as many as possible and try to enter the last half of the season with the most possible momentum.”
Breakthrough Pole for Wadoux
Wadoux, 25, from Amiens, France, was signed as a Ferrari factory driver in 2023 and was the first woman to win a race in the FIA World Endurance Championship. She continues to impress every time she’s in a car on either side of the Atlantic.
On her first trip to Road America – considered one of the most exhilarating and challenging circuits in the world – she produced a pole-winning effort with about three-and-a-half minutes remaining in the 15-minute GTD qualifying session.
Wadoux has already claimed three wins in WeatherTech Championship competition including the 2025 Motul Petit Le Mans and this year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
“Last week was my first time here in a test, and to be honest, it is an exquisite track,” she remarked. “We know when you come here in the U.S. you will find nice tracks, a little bit old school. I enjoy every moment at this track because it’s so special compared to Europe.
“I have to give credit to the other girls who showed we are able to do the same,” Wadoux added.
She is the second woman to win a pole at Road America this weekend, joining Hannah Grisham, who started the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race from the top spot earlier Saturday afternoon. In fact, Grisham and her co-driver, Hannah Greenemeier, are riding a three-race pole-winning streak that series, with Grisham also taking pole for June’s race at Watkins Glen and Greenemeier taking pole last month at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
“It’s good, but I am quite happy as a driver to earn pole position,” Wadoux said. “I hope we will see more and more in the next years, that it will continue this way.”
She paid tribute to the Af Corse team, which is competing only in the five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races in 2026.
“We have a new car here and the team did an amazing job to prepare everything and give us a good car,” Wadoux said. “For sure it was not easy after Practice 2 was in the rain. I wasn’t sure we were ready for the quali, but at the end, we did a pretty good job, I think.
“Now we will see what we can do tomorrow.”
The Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix starts at 11:40 a.m. ET (10:40 a.m. local time), with flag-to-flag coverage livestreamed on Peacock in the U.S., and IMSA.TV and the official IMSA YouTube channel internationally.