Joey Hand continues to keep the American Le Mans Series GT field behind the No. 56 M3 GT qualifying on the class pole for tomorrow’s American Le Mans Series at Long Beach race. With a 1:19.090 minute lap of the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit Hand will lead the 14-car GT class to the green flag for the start of the two-hour race.

Hand along with co-drivers Dirk Mü ller and Andy Priaulx, won the opening round of the 2011 ALMS season, leading a 1-2 BMW Team RLL GT class finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring. The No. 55 M3 GT of Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner will line up third and directly behind Hand and Müller at the start following Auberlen’s 1:19.4 47 minute qualifying lap.

“It’s been a good year and all about momentum,” Hand said. “This is one my favorite venues and I’ve wanted to win here for a long time. On a street course like this, the first guy fast is the guy to beat. So I wanted to go out from the beginning and be that guy. Our car was so good on the balance that I was honestly surprised.”

“We have new chassis this year. Right out of the box, you get a feeling right away. I liked this one immediately. With BMW Motorsport, BMW North America and RLL…you let them look at all the data and then bring the best package to the table. And it’s a great car to drive. When I get comfy, good things happen.”

Sources : BMW Team RLL and ALMS