In a thrilling GT Daytona (GTD) class qualifying session for Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Belle Isle Park, Lawson Aschenbach delivered the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole position for Audi since 2015 with a GTD track-record effort.

On his final lap of the 15-minute session, Aschenbach posted a best time of 1 minute, 30.200 seconds (93.7 mph) in the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT3 to secure the class pole for tomorrow’s 100-minute sprint race on the 2.350-mile Belle Isle street circuit.

The most recent pole for Audi came in September, 2015 when Dion von Moltke secured the top starting spot in GTD at Circuit of The Americas. The previous Detroit GTD record of 1:31.340 was set by Bryan Sellers last year.

“It was a battle,” Aschenbach said. “I think everyone saw in practice how close the times were. It was going to go down to whoever could get the last little bit out of the car. Everyone’s best lap was on the 10th or 11th lap. The Audi kind of takes a little more time to get up to temp than the other cars, so we knew we had to be all the way on it up until the end.”

It was Aschenbach’s first career pole position in WeatherTech Championship competition and his third in major U.S. sports car competition. He previously won two GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series poles.

“Getting a pole today is going to give us a little bit of our swagger back for the rest of this season,” he added. “The car does so well here, especially in the high-speed sections of the track. Fortunately, we were able to get this car setup perfectly for a track like this and bring it all together to come out with a pole today.”

Aschenbach took the provisional pole on his second-to-last lap in the session, but needed the late flyer to retain the TOTAL Pole Award, as Katherine Legge also turned in a quick final lap in the No. 93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3.

Legge’s fast lap of 1:30.541 (93.4 mph) placed the No. 93 machine she shares with Andy Lally second on the GTD grid. It was the best WeatherTech Championship starting position to date for the first-year Acura program.

Qualifying third was Sellers in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 at 1:30.763 (93.2 mph). Sellers started from the GTD pole last year in Detroit and also was the fastest qualifier in the season’s lone previous street circuit race of the 2017 season, April’s BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach.

Sellers led a second-row sweep for Lamborghini in GTD, as Corey Lewis – who momentarily held the provisional pole during the session – wound up fourth on the grid in the No. 16 Change Racing Huracán. Lewis’ best time was a 1:30.802 (93.1 mph).

Scott Pruett completed the top five in GTD with a best lap of 1:30.878 (93.0 mph) in the No. 14 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3. Pruett also held the provisional pole for a few moments late in the qualifying session.

The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic will be televised live on FS2 at 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The race will be rebroadc