Helio Castroneves claims pole in qualifying for Saturday’s TireRack.com Grand Prix
Second consecutive WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole for Acura Team Penske
Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evos qualify fourth, sixth in GTD

BRASELTON, Ga. (Sept. 4, 2020) – Helio Castroneves claimed the second consecutive WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole for Acura Team Penske Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta; while Shinya Michimi and Misha Goikhberg qualified their Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo’s fourth and six, respectively in the production-based GTD class.

Acura Team Penske
Castroneves took his #7 Acura ARX-05 to the pole in a hard fought 15-minute session, edging the #31 Cadillac prototype of Felipe Nasr by less than a tenth of a second. The pole is the second of the season for Castroneves, and the second consecutive pole for the #7 Acura Team Penske duo of Castroneves and co-driver Ricky Taylor, fastest qualifier last month at Road America.

Defending series champion Dane Cameron took his #6 Acura ARX-05 to third in qualifying, in the car he will share tomorrow with co-driver and fellow defending champion Juan Pablo Montoya.

Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3
Shinya Michimi, third driver for Meyer Shank Racing in the long-distance rounds of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, will start fourth in the GTD category, less than three-tenths of a second off the pole time around the challenging 2.54-mile Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta circuit. He will share his #86 Acura in tomorrow six-hour race with full-season drivers Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry.

In the #57 Heinricher Racing with MSR Acura, Misha Goikberg qualified sixth, less than four-tenths of a a second off his teammate, in the NSX GT3 Evo he shares with fellow full-season driver Alvaro Parente and endurance-race driver Trent Hindman.

Where to Watch
Live network television coverage from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, September 5, for one hour on the NBC Sports Network. Coverage will resume on NBCSN from 2:30 p.m. EDT to the finish. Live flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Sports App and NBC Gold with NBCSN Trackpass authentication.

Quotes
Helio Castroneves (#7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05) pole qualifier, his second pole this season and fifth career IMSA pole, third pole of 2020 for Acura Team Penske: “It’s all on the line [in qualifying]. You’ve got great competitors, and you’ve got to push it to the limit. Every time we go out there [for qualifying], for me, it’s great. And every time we achieve something great, doing something that you love, it’s just fun. Tomorrow’s six hours of racing, but again, this is something I love to do.”