Farnbacher Loles Racing took command of the GT front row during qualifying for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montréal.
Eric Lux of Jacksonville, Fla., will start the No. 86 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car from the class pole position, with his teammate Bryce Miller of Summit, N.J., second on the grid in the No. 87 Porsche.
Miller opened with a fast lap of one minute 42.546 seconds on the 4.361-km (2.709-mile) road course, at an average speed of 95.103 mph. Lux countered two laps later in 1:42.362 (95.274 mph). Miller attempted a faster time, but was slowed by oil on the track.
Both cars encountered problems during Thursday practice, forcing them to miss a session for repairs. They were rewarded with strong qualifying runs on Friday, just a few hours before race time. Lux will drive first in the No. 86 Porsche, followed by his co-driver, Leh Keen of Charleston, S.C. Miller will start the No. 87 Porsche, then hand off to defending Rolex Series GT champion Dirk Werner of Kissenbrück, Germany.
"Yesterday, we struggled quite a bit with the car because I had a little 'off'. With the pit lane and paddock being so far apart, we missed a session," Lux acknowledged. "The crew did a great job of going with the data and getting a setup on the car. It turned out to be all right – we had a great car! I'm just glad to get a pole for Farnbacher Loles, and it's great to see Bryce right next to me on the start. It's always nice to have a teammate next to you. Hopefully, we'll be back in this room [for a victory media conference] in five hours."
Miller had mixed feelings about his qualifying effort.
"This is a great result for us, to be front row, especially with 225 guests here from our sponsors, IPC and Positron," he said. "I'm really happy we're on the front row, but I'm a little bit disappointed because I made a mistake on what I think would have been my ultimate lap, when the tire pressures had come in and were good, and I ended up spinning. But it just shows how good the car was, because I was still able to put it on the front row even when the pressures weren't optimal. I'm really excited for the race."
Dave Lacey of Toronto qualified the No. 88 Porsche 10th on the 21-car GT grid with a lap time of 1:45.215 (92.690 mph), despite flat-spotting a tire. He shares driving duty with former NFL tight end Steve Johnson of Bristol, Va.
"I was a little disappointed," Lacey said. "After flat-spotting the front right on the third lap, I had to back off and make sure we had a good car for the race. I did not want to make a mistake and jeopardize our chances in the main event."
The No. 88 Porsche is carrying special pink decals this week to welcome Lacey's daughter Eden, who was born on Tuesday.
