Hyett Delivers AO Racing’s First LMP2 Pole of 2026
By John Oreovicz
BRASELTON, Ga. – Over the last four years, the Acura ARX-06 earned the Motul Pole Award more than any other Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) race car competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
That proved the case again Friday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as Tom Blomqvist claimed pole position for the 29th annual Motul Petit Le Mans, the 10-hour WeatherTech Championship season finale. Blomqvist lapped the 2.54-mile course in 1 minute, 9.703 seconds for an average of 131.184 mph in the No. 60 Acura fielded by Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian.
He will be joined in the car Saturday by Colin Braun and Scott Dixon.
Nick Yelloly secured a front row lockout for Acura by running second in MSR’s No. 93 entry he shares with Renger van der Zande and IndyCar champion Alex Palou. Yelloly’s best lap was clocked at 1:09.925 (130.768 mph) as the MSR Acuras were the only cars to break the 1:10 barrier.
Sheldon van der Linde (co-drivers Dries Vanthoor and Robin Frijns) qualified the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 third.
In fourth, Jack Aitken has positioned himself to secure the GTP championship if he leaves the grid for Saturday’s race aboard the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R. That combined with Laurin Heinrich slotting in seventh in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, with the unofficial gap of 151 points.
Acura and Blomqvist got the Friday spotlight in what is the manufacturer and team’s last scheduled start for now with a pause planned after Saturday. Blomqvist has now gone back-to-back here at Michelin Raceway, and today’s is his third pole at this track.
“I really enjoy this place, especially in qualifying; it’s always been good to me,” Blomqvist said. “I think today was more about executing more than anything. The expectation was to fight for pole. Obviously, the team did a fantastic job with the 1-2. But we know obviously today is one thing and tomorrow is a very different one.”
The pole was an extra award for the Meyer Shank crew, as the No. 60 battled a few problems during Thursday’s three free practices that limited their track time.
“We had something go wrong yesterday, and the guys worked super hard and late into the night, making sure everything was good for today,” Blomqvist said. “To get a little win today like we did with the pole is super important for everyone.
“Obviously our championship has been not the best, to say the least (Blomqvist and Braun lie 10th in the season standings) and obviously it’s the last event, so things like today go a long way toward putting smiles on people’s faces. It’s just nice to get out of the car and see everyone is so happy when it hasn’t been the smoothest of weekends.”
LMP2: Hyett and AO’s “Rockie” on Top
After winning the Motul Pole Award for the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, PJ Hyett cringed when told it was his first pole in 14 months.
“I don’t particularly like that stat,” smiled the co-owner and co-driver of the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07 with Dane Cameron and Jonny Edgar. “Better late than never.”
The good news – and good stat – is it was the first pole in the first IMSA qualifying attempt for “Rockie” the Pegasus. That’s the new red livery this race adorning the No. 99 car which usually is purple for “Spike” the Dragon, which debuted at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
Hyett secured three poles on the way to the LMP2 championship in the 2025 WeatherTech Championship. One of those came at Road America last August, his most recent pole.
That streak ended Friday at Michelin Raceway, where Hyett’s lap of 1 minute, 12.944 seconds (125.356 mph) bested this year’s LMP2 championship leader Jeremy Clarke, who shares the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 with Tom Dillmann and Bijoy Garg. Clarke’s best lap was 1:13.167 (124.974 mph).
Clarke and Dillmann are now 10 points (and crucially, one race finish position) ahead of George Kurtz and Alex Quinn after Kurtz qualified fifth fastest for Petit Le Mans. They arrived at Michelin Raceway just four points up.
Hyett and Cameron could still steal their second consecutive LMP2 championship, but he’ll need a bit of luck. They start the race 105 points behind the No. 43 Inter Europol duo.
Whichever LMP2 Bronze driver wins the full-season championship also wins the Jim Trueman Award, and the subsequent IMSA invitation to the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“I couldn’t be happier with the team’s effort to give me a car to put ‘Rockie’ on pole this weekend,” Hyett said. “I’ve never gotten pole here before, and I absolutely love this racetrack. It’s incredibly special, so I’m absolutely thrilled.
“We came into this weekend with a very clear set of objectives,” he added. “Put it on pole, win the race, and hope something happens to the No. 43 and No. 04 because that’s pretty much all we can do for the championship. We’re going to need a bit of help from Lady Luck.”
There’s a championship within a championship in LMP2, too. The No. 04 CrowdStrike and No. 99 AO Racing ORECAs are within one point in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup for that title.
The 29th annual Motul Petit Le Mans goes green at 12:10 ET Saturday with flag-to-flag livestreamed coverage on Peacock in the U.S. and via IMSA.TV or the official IMSA YouTube channel internationally. NBC will televise the first three hours, with NBCSN joining in progress to carry coverage to the conclusion.