Acura Automobiles: Castroneves, Cameron Qualify 1-2 for Acura at Mid-Ohio

  • Helio Castroneves and Dane Cameron lock out front row in prototype qualifying
  • Second consecutive WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole for Acura Team Penske
  • Katherine Legge leads Acura NSX GT3 effort with fourth-place qualifying run

After a thrilling intra-team battle, Helio Castroneves took his Acura ARX-05 prototype to the pole in qualifying today for Sunday’s Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio, edging teammate Dane Cameron by just fifteen hundredths of a second on his final qualifying lap. Katherine Legge, driving the Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3, led the way for the manufacturer in GTD qualifying and will start fourth on Sunday.

Acura Team Penske Prototype
Acura Team Penske’s Castroneves and Cameron battled for pole honors throughout the 15-minute prototype qualifying session. With just minutes remaining, Cameron appeared to have the best lap in the #6 Acura ARX-05 he will share with Juan Pablo Montoya on Sunday, posting a time of 1:11.984 around the rolling 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. 

But as he took the checkers, Castroneves jumped his teammate with a time of 1:11.837, to claim his first pole in the #7 ARX-05 he co-drives with Ricky Taylor. It’s the second consecutive pole for Acura in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition this year, with Montoya having taken qualifying honors at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in April.

Meyer Shank Racing GTD
In GTD, Katherine Legge paced Acura effort, taking her NSX GT3 to fourth in the 15-minute session for that category in a tight qualifying battle among the top six competitors.  Legge will start tomorrow’s two hour, 40-minute race in the #86 MSR Acura before handing off to co-driver Alvaro Parente.

In the second MSR entry, Justin Marks will start the #93 NSX GT3 he shares with Lawson Aschenbach from sixth in the competitive, 14-car GTD field.

Quotes
Helio Castroneves (driver, #7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05) pole qualifier, second consecutive pole for new Acura ARX-05 prototype: “I was pushing, obviously, trying to make things happen. It was a perfect example of ‘not leaving anything in the bag’. I have to say [teammate] Dane [Cameron] did an awesome job, he made me push even harder. It was a great team effort. I’m really excited about an all Acura Team Penske front row, and even happier about being on the pole.”

Katherine Legge (driver, #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3) qualified fourth in GTD: “Qualifying went pretty well. I think we legitimately should have been third, but we got blocked out there and shuffled back to fourth. We have a really great car and I’m excited to see what kind of result we can get tomorrow, especially if it rains.”

Where to watch
Live television coverage from Mid-Ohio begins at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday on the Fox Sports 2 Network. The entire race also will be streamed live on Fox Sports GO, with FS1 authentication.

Fans can listen in to audio commentary via IMSA.comRadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.

Video recaps from this weekend’s Acura Motorsports activities at Mid-Ohio are being posted on the “Honda Racing/HPD” YouTube channel. Produced by the Carolinas Production Group, the video packages can be found in the 2018 HPD Trackside Video Playlist at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio
Circuit:       Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course (2.258-mile road course) Lexington, Ohio
Weather:     Sunny, mild, 68 degrees F

 

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