Through three weekends of IMSA competition in 2026, neither GT class – Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) or Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) – has seen a polesitter win the race. Jack Hawksworth and Lorenzo Patrese will look to change that in Sunday’s StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship, Round 4 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for GTD and Round 3 for GTD PRO.
In GTD PRO, the oldest car in the field beat the oldest retro livery featured in the class as part of IMSA and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca’s “Throwback Weekend.”
Hawksworth, driving the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3, set the GTD PRO pace with a best time of 1 minute, 21.228 seconds (99.187 mph) on his ninth lap around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn WeatherTech Raceway circuit.
It’s his second straight Motul Pole Award after also scoring the top spot at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 16th in his WeatherTech Championship career. The latter stat ties him with Ben Keating for most all-time in the series dating to 2014, the first featuring a unified top-level sports car championship.
It’s a critical pole for Hawksworth, too, as he and Ben Barnicoat – and the Vasser Sullivan Lexus team – have traditionally struggled at this track with the venerable chassis that debuted in 2017.
“This is a super special one,” Hawksworth said. “We’ve kind of struggled here. To roll off this weekend and be competitive, the guys have been positive. I’m super pumped for all of it. We got the tires in at exactly the right point. Delighted with it.”
The poignancy of the pole also factored in as news broke Saturday morning in Monterey of the passing of Alex Zanardi, longtime teammate to Vasser Sullivan Racing co-owner Jimmy Vasser.
On the Vasser/Zanardi element, Hawksworth reflected: “Obviously, for the world of motorsport in general, it’s extremely sad. He’s an absolute legend. I’ve seen the video of him passing Bryan (Herta, to win a 1996 IndyCar race at Laguna Seca). Jimmy was obviously his teammate and very good friend. It’s very special to be starting on the pole. I know Jimmy’s emotional, as you’d expect.”
Neil Verhagen, driving the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, gave the car featuring a 1975 BMW CSL throwback a ride that nearly ended with the top spot. The American was 0.257 off the pace at 1:21.485. Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi lead the GTD PRO points heading into Sunday’s race.
After the leading Lexus and BMW, five other manufacturers – Ford, Porsche, Chevrolet, Lamborghini and McLaren – made it seven different brands in the top seven positions.
GTD: Conquest Conquers Qualifying as Patrese Powers to Pole
The GTD battle for pole mostly featured a pair of second-generation stars in Patrese and Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello, as the sons of retired Formula 1 race winners Riccardo Patrese and Rubens Barrichello settled the score on track to see which was faster.
Patrese, stepping into the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO for his first WeatherTech Championship sprint race, was first in the 1:21 bracket at 1:21.940 on his fifth tour of the track.
He bettered that by a half second on his sixth lap at 1 minute, 21.441 (98.927 mph), which stood as the benchmark.
It’s Patrese’s second IMSA pole, having achieved his first at last year’s Motul Petit Le Mans in the last time he qualified a car. It’s also Conquest Racing’s first pole in IMSA since 2012 by Martin Plowman, achieved in the American Le Mans Series P2 class at VIRginia International Raceway.
“I would say the first objective is to focus on GTD and we’ll see what comes with the rest,” Patrese reflected, since his pole time was mixed in among some GTD PRO cars.
Reflecting on Zanardi’s accomplishments, as his dad raced against Zanardi in Formula 1, Patrese added: “My dad was very close with Alex. It’s not the easiest of days. Happy to start on pole on such a day. It’s very nice in the world of motorsport remembering him, and what IMSA is doing.”
Danny Formal, competing in a double duty weekend across Wayne Taylor Racing’s GTD and Lamborghini Super Trofeo Lamborghini Huracán variants, nearly grabbed the top spot when he got within 0.022 of a second in the No. 45 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 at 1:21.463.
Barrichello fell to third, 0.266 of a second behind at 1:21.707 in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. The GTD points leader sought to secure the No. 27 car’s third pole of the season, after he scored pole in Sebring and teammate Zacharie Robichon won the pole at Daytona.
The Rolex 24-winning No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Long Beach-winning No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 completed the top five.
The GTD field is down by one to 13 cars this weekend with the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R out of action this weekend due to a transporter fire. That denied Robert Wickens a chance to complete a California “double-double” of poles after moving into the Long Beach pole last time out.
Sunday’s StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship goes green at 4:10 p.m. ET. Live flag-to-flag coverage airs on NBCSN starting at 4 p.m. ET with streaming via Peacock, IMSA.TV and IMSA’s Official YouTube Channel.
