By RaceScene Publisher on Wednesday, 16 March 2022
Category: The Checkered Flag

Kay van Berlo secures pole position for Porsche Carrera Cup North America opening race weekend at Sebring

Kay van Berlo made it a clean sweep of sessions on Wednesday at Sebring International Raceway as he topped both practice sessions and continued his form to take pole position with a lap of 2:03.330 in the Kelly-Moss Road and Race Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

It was another Kelly-Moss car that would lead the way in the Pro-Am class as Efrin Castro also topped all three sessions of the day, claiming pole position in class with a time of 2:05.299, which was good enough for fourteenth overall, ahead of JDX Racing’s Peter Atwater and Kelly-Moss teammate Alan Metni. The top nine drivers would end the session within one second of each other in the Pro class.

The 2021 runner-up opened the session with the fastest lap, putting in a time pf 2:05.349 before teammate Riley Dickinson outpaced him, improving to 2:04.697. 311RS Motorsport’s Leh Keen briefly put himself in contention for the top spot with a time of 2:04.467 before van Berlo set his fastest lap to take pole position on his third flying lap.

Credit: Porsche

“It’s been a pretty smooth day with first place in all of the sessions so far, obviously very happy with pole,” van Berlo told The Checkered Flag. “It’s a big priority, especially with 43 cars on the track, if you start mid-field or even a couple of cars back you are in a really risky position, especially the opening laps of the race, and especially the beginning of the season, you just don’t want to be in that position.

“We knew that we had a good car, free practice was good, we were in the right direction, within the window already, we just had to put it together, which is not that easy, especially with so many cars out on track, its easy to catch traffic at the wrong moment.

“The team and me were able to pull it off today, two decent laps, especially the first one, the second one I’m not completely satisfied with because I made a mistake, still, I had a big doubt on that one, so even though I made a mistake I was still fast enough to take the pole for the second race as well.

Looking ahead to the races, van Berlo knows what he has to do, after winning seven races last season and missing out on the title due to a handful on non-finishes, the Dutch driver is aiming for consistency.

“Race tomorrow is more important, lots of points up for grabs; I just want to be consistent, of course I am going for the win, but it’s all about getting points, being consistent, staying out of trouble and that should give us the best result by the end of the season.

“Tomorrow is going to be a dry day, I’m feeling good, happy so far, the team is happy, so lets keep the momentum going and see if we can pull it off in both races.”

MDK Motorsports team-owner/driver Mark Kvamme made it three-in-a-row for the class leaders as he dominated the day in the Am class, setting an impressive time of 2:05.980, putting him twenty-first on the grid and in pole position for the class.

For the second race of the weekend the second fastest time of the session from each driver is taken to decide the grid, unsurprisingly van Berlo, Castro and Kvamme will lead the way in their respective classes for that race.

Credit: Porsche

Porsche Carrera Cup North America – Sebring International Raceway – Qualifying – Race 1

Pos.#ClassDriverTimeGap
13ProKay van Berlo2.03.330
253ProRiley Dickinson2.03.5070.177
39ProParker Thompson2.03.5350.205
411ProDimitri Dimakos2.04.0030.673
56ProTrenton Estep2.04.0390.709
612ProLeh Keen2.04.1700.840
78ProMichael McCann2.04.1730.843
813ProVarun Choksey2.04.2040.874
958ProTJ Fischer2.04.2570.927
107ProMichael McCarthy2.04.4131.083
1188ProHutton McKenna2.04.7041.374
1281ProGrant Talkie2.05.0841.754
132ProSean Varwig2.05.1961.866
1465Pro-AmEfrin Castro2.05.2991.969
1577ProTravis Wiley2.05.6342.304
1626Pro-AmPeter Atwater2.05.7222.392
1799Pro-AmAlan Metni2.05.7262.396
1855Pro-AmMatt Halcome2.05.7662.436
1984Pro-AmMarco Cirone2.05.8102.480
2016Pro-AmPedro Torres2.05.8122.482
2143AmMark Kvamme2.05.9802.650
2247Pro-AmJustin Oakes2.06.2632.933
2356Pro-AmJeff Mosing2.06.3212.991
2424ProAdam Adelson2.06.3443.014
2557AmJohn Goetz2.06.4323.102
2622Pro-AmCarlos De Quesada2.06.5403.210
2744Pro-AmMoisey Uretsky2.06.6523.322
2869Pro-AmThomas Collingwood2.06.8063.476
2917Pro-AmCurt Swearingin2.07.2013.871
3028AmBob Mueller2.07.3404.010
314AmRobert Hanley2.07.3804.050
3295ProConor Flynn2.07.4074.077
3329AmJeffrey Majkrzak2.07.7854.455
3418Pro-AmRichard Edge2.07.9134.583
3542AmBill Smith2.07.9354.605
3621AmGrady Willingham2.08.7105.380
3789Pro-AmMike Zoi2.08.8565.526
3892AmJoseph Lombardo2.09.3746.044
3910AmVernon McClure2.11.2587.928
4019AmTom Balames2.11.5028.172
4180AmJoe Still2.12.3629.032
4230Pro-AmDominique Lequeux
4397Pro-AmCraig Conway

Porsche Carrera Cup North America – Sebring International Raceway – Qualifying – Race 2

Pos.#DriverTimeGap
13Kay van Berlo2:03.356
253Riley Dickinson2:03.6980.342
39Parker Thompson2:03.8590.503
46Trenton Estep2:04.1960.840
558TJ Fischer2:04.3951.039
611Dimitri Dimakos2:04.4241.068
712Leh Keen2:04.4541.098
87Michael McCarthy2:04.5101.154
913Varun Choksey2:04.5831.227
1088Hutton McKenna2:04.9761.620
118Michael McCann2:05.2191.863
122Sean Varwig2:05.3582.002
1365Efrin Castro2:05.3632.007
1477Travis Wiley2:05.6802.324
1526Peter Atwater2:05.7802.424
1681Grant Talkie2:05.8062.450
1799Alan Metni2:05.9392.583
1843Mark Kvamme2:06.1392.783
1947Justin Oakes2:06.4433.087
2024Adam Adelson2:06.5743.218
2116Pedro Torres2:06.6453.289
2257John Goetz2:06.6623.306
2322Carlos De Quesada2:06.7463.390
2444Moisey Uretsky2:06.7963.440
2584Marco Cirone2:06.8283.472
2669Thomas Collingwood2:07.1403.784
2728Bob Mueller2:07.3533.997
2817Curt Swearingin2:07.3874.031
2956Jeff Mosing2:07.4154.059
3095Conor Flynn2:07.4894.133
3155Matt Halcome2:07.6774.321
3229Jeffrey Majkrzak2:07.8644.508
3318Richard Edge2:08.4065.050
344Robert Hanley2:08.4325.076
3589Mike Zoi2:08.9755.619
3642Bill Smith2:09.2715.915
3721Grady Willingham2:09.4956.139
3892Joseph Lombardo2:09.8696.513
3980Joe Still2:12.5829.226
4019Tom Balames2:12.7379.381
4110Vernon McClure2:31.25727.901
4230Dominique Lequeux
4397Craig Conway

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