Montoya, Acura Claim Pole at Long Beach
• Juan Pablo Montoya tops qualifying with lap-record run at Long Beach
• First WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole for new Acura ARX-05 prototype
• Helio Castroneves qualifies fourth in his Acura Team Penske entry
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 13, 2018) – Juan Pablo Montoya took his Acura ARX-05 prototypes to a lap record run Friday around the 1.968-mile Long Beach temporary street circuit, with the Acura Team Penske driver claiming the pole for Saturday’s Bubba burger Sports Car Grand Prix.
Acura Team Penske
Driving the #6 Acura ARX-05 prototype he will share with co-driver Dane Cameron, Montoya was the quickest of four drivers who bettered the existing Long Beach lap record during today’s brief, 15-minute qualifying session. His best lap of 1:12.922 shattered the old mark, set just last year, of 1:13.549.
Montoya’s run is the first pole, in just the third event, for the new Acura ARX-05 prototype, and the first for Acura Team Penske in the organization’s return to sports car racing in 2018. Driving the #7 ARX-05, Helio Castroneves also bettered the existing track record, and will start his Acura from fourth, sharing the driving duties with Ricky Taylor.
Quote
Juan Pablo Montoya (driver, #6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05) pole qualifier, first pole for new Acura ARX-05 prototype: “It’s nice to finally get a pole for Acura. Going into qualifying, we felt we had two really strong cars, and we were able to deliver the results. I just really love this Acura, it really reminds me of a Formula One car. It’s so well balanced, and so nice to drive. It’s one of those cars where you can push it more and more, and the car just takes it. You could see it today in qualifying. I put in one really good lap, and three laps later I was going even quicker!”
Where to watch
Live television coverage from Long Beach begins at 4 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 14, on the Fox Network. The entire race also will be streamed live on Fox Sports GO, with FS1 authentication, starting at 3:55 p.m. EDT.
Fans can listen in to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.