The Heart of Racing Porsche drivers Mario Farnbacher (Germany) and Alex Riberas (Spain) will start from pole position in GTD for tomorrow’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix presented by Mazda to run at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Farnbacher and Riberas had the Alex Job Racing prepared Heart of Racing Porsche on the top of the GTD timing chart for every practice this weekend. In qualifying Riberas had the wheel of the No. 23 blue Porsche for the 15-minute session. Wasting little time he posted a lap of 1:25.755 to take the pole position. A remarkable feat as he had no previous experience at the 2.2-mile, 11-turn circuit located east of Monterey Bay. Tomorrow’s race will be only two hours in length making strategy a very important element.
“We are really in a good position here,” Riberas said. “This is very special, my first pole position in IMSA. The team has done an outstanding job since Sebring. Right from the first practice we have had a great feeling with the Heart of Racing Porsche. The hard work paid off this week. In all four practice sessions we were the fastest. We will stay cool, keep our heads down and go for the win tomorrow.”
Teammate Farnbacher is also happy with the car and the team.
“Alex did a great job to go out and get the pole for the Heart of Racing team,” Farnbacher said. “In all of the free practice sessions and in qualifying we have the fastest car, so it is going good so far. The team is working hard and we will be looking to keep the Porsche at the front of the field in the race as well. This is a shorter race, so we will have to have good strategy and good speed in the car.”
“Alex did his homework on the track and did a nice job to get the pole in the Heart of Racing Porsche,” Team Owner Alex Job said. “He and Mario have been the fastest GTD car all week. The team has the car running fast and we now need to put it all together in the race tomorrow. A short race compared to what we are used to, but that will make it that much more interesting.”
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be televised live on FOX Sports 2, Sunday, May 1, starting at 6 p.m. ET.