Drayson Racing won their first ever pole in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) after dominating the qualifying session at Mid-Ohio.
Drayson Racing had already led both of the practice sessions for the race when, fulfilling his normal qualifying duties, Jonny Cocker took the car for the 20 minute session around the 2.25 mile Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course, taking provisional pole on his third flying lap in the Lola-Judd with a time of 1:11.762, immediately bettering his own marker on the next lap, lowing the pole time to 1:10.531.
Cocker stopped for the team to clean the screen on the coupe before setting off back out on the track, improving his time again on his ninth flying lap of the session, inching down to 1:10.524. Finally, on his last flying lap of the session Cocker smashed his previous best, taking pole position with a lap 1.10.034, nearly a second faster than his nearest competitor.
“Fantastic result for everybody,” Cocker said. “The car was brilliant. We’ve really shown that the small improvements we’ve been making throughout the season are making a difference now. To bring it altogether here at Mid-Ohio, being fastest in both practice sessions and then qualifying, is a great feeling. Now we just need to carry the momentum into the race. I am feeling confident in a really great team result.”
“This feels great!,” beamed American Dale White, the team manager. “First in each session and in qualifications; that’s what we have known we can do all along. I am really happy for the whole team and for Paul and Elspeth. They have invested so much emotionally into this that it is wonderful to be able to give them a result. We knew we were quick and we know that we have great race pace. The goal is to have a clean, trouble-free race and try and keep this momentum going into the race.”
Co-owner Paul Drayson will drive the car in the opening sting for the two-hour, 45-minute Mid-Ohio Sportscar Challenge.
