Goldburg Puts No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA in Catbird Seat in LMP2
By Holly Cain
IMSA Wire Service
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – For the second consecutive year, the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 will lead the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Chamiponship field to green at the historic Road America road course.
Brit Nick Yelloly turned in a lap of 1 minute, 49.233 seconds (133.409 mph) to take pole position for Sunday’s six-hour Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix (11:40 a.m. ET on Peacock).
He led a front-row Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) sweep for Acura that also includes Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60 car with veteran Tom Blomqvist moving up the speed chart in the final five minutes of the 15-minute session around the 14-corner, 4.048-mile circuit. Blomqvist’s best lap was 1:49.390 (133.218 mph).
The No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 will roll off third thanks to a qualifying effort from Sheldon van der Linde at 1:49.597 (132.966 mph) sharing the second row on the grid with Louis Deletraz in the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, which was fastest in Saturday’s rainy morning practice session. Deletraz’s best qualifying lap was 1:49.613 (132.947 mph).
In a final dramatic lap in the closing seconds of the qualifying session, Laurens Vanthoor put the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 fifth on the grid at 1:50.295 (132.125 mph) ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R driven by GTP class championship leader Jack Aitken (1:50.361, 132.046 mph).
It’s the second consecutive Road America pole position for the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura, which led opening practice for the weekend and finished third last season in what had previously been a two-hour, 40-minute race.
It marks Yelloly’s fourth career series pole and first since Long Beach in April. He’s co-driving with last year’s pole-winning driver, Renger van der Zande. The pair were quite confident about the qualifying session following a successful test here at Road America in July.
“Clearly, (we) knew we would be competitive,’’ Yelloly said, adding, “I wouldn’t say you’re ever super confident in getting the pole exactly. We knew we would be competitive. I thought if we could do a good lap, we would definitely be inside the top three or four.
“We did a new tire run yesterday as well and had a good feeling with the car. We were also pretty fast and competitive in the wet. I just felt if I did my job and put the lap together well that we would be at the front. Congrats to HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) and MSR for giving me the car to do so.”
As for the extended race length, Yelloly said the pole position would be particularly helpful in getting a solid, no-drama start.
“It always means you hopefully stay out of the first lap or two chaos,” he said. “I’m happy to be at the front. It means you don’t get caught up in any of the silliness on cold tires on the first few laps.
“I think it’s always important to be at the front, to be honest, whether it’s a two-hour race or a six-hour race.”
Aitken, the 30-year-old Brit who entered the weekend with a 203-point lead over Laurin Heinrich atop the championship standings. Heinrich is in an unusual situation alternating between the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 and the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 he is steering this weekend. Heinrich and co-drivers Kaylen Frederick and Tijmen van der Helm will start last in the 11-car GTP class.
Although the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac was one of three GTP entries that opted not to run Saturday’s rainy practice session, Aitken said team was happy with the car’s speed and expects to stay in contention.
“A bit of a struggle to get the lap time out of it,” Aitken said. “It’s just been a very up and down day with the weather, and we weren’t really sure what conditions we were going to get.
“[Qualifying] ended up being dry and not too bad I would say, in terms of grip. But just missing that last little bit. So, we’re just going to have a dig around tonight, see what we can find, and get ready for six hours tomorrow, because that’s obviously what counts.”
Goldburg Earns LMP2 Pole for United Autosports
American Daniel Goldburg claimed pole position for the 12-car Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, turning in a fast lap of 1:54.212 (127.593 mph) in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 – bettering Canadian Misha Goikhberg in the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1 Mathiasen ORECA LMP2 07 by 0.262 of a second.
It marks the first pole position of the season for the No. 22 United Autosports USA team and is significant for Goldburg who comes into the Road America six-hour race ranked fourth in the LMP2 class championship standings. Goldburg, who won his first IMSA pole in the former LMP3 class at Road America in 2021, looks to score his first win since hoisting a trophy in the 2025 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The team finished last among the 14 LMP2 entries a year ago here.
After a spirited battle in qualifying – the top four cars were ultimately separated by only 0.522 seconds. The No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 will start on the second row alongside the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA, which won this race from pole position in last year’s two-hour, 40-minute version of the event.
“It’s a lot of emotion for me,” Goldburg acknowledged. “I’ve been super close many times since Daytona last year so really been gunning for another pole. Also, this season we could use some good finishes here at the end here to bring us back up in the standings that we were leading only a couple races ago. So, this means a lot to me and the team.
“What made the difference? I was pushing a little harder,’’ he added with a smile.
The No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA, which starts fifth in class, has some work ahead on Sunday with co-drivers Alex Quinn and George Kurtz guarding a 70-point lead atop the championship standings over the No. 43 Inter Euopol Competition co-drivers Jeremy Clarke and Tom Dillmann. The No. 99 AO Racing co-drivers PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron are only 81 points off the championship lead.
The Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix runs from 11:40 a.m.-5:40 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 3. Flag-to-flag live coverage will be streamed on Peacock in the U.S., and via IMSA.TV and the official IMSA YouTube channel internationally.