Robert Wickens impresses in GTD qualifying at Long…

Robert Wickens nearly pulled off a phenomenal GTD pole run in qualifying for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

UPDATE: The pole-sitting #89 Vasser Sullivan was found to have a ground clearance violation in post-qualifying inspection, sending the Lexus to the rear of the grid. That means DXDT Racing and Wickens inherit the pole position. This story was written before technical inspection

The Canadian, who contests IMSA’s sprint rounds with DXDT Racing’s #36 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, took the top spot with under a minute remaining but was relegated to second in the final moments by Vasser Sullivan’s Frankie Montecalvo. The result, which was 0.151s behind the 1m18.411s by Montecalvo, is still impressive, especially considering Wickens hadn’t been behind the wheel of a race car since last August at Virginia International Raceway.

"We've been having some radio issues here and there so I heard I went P1 at the checkered,” said Wickens, 37.

“And then I didn't hear anything for the rest of the lap because of the static. But yeah, P2 is alright! As soon as I heard that I missed it by a tenth, I knew exactly where I could have found that to snag P1. DXDT Racing gives me a good racecar, and the Corvette Z06 GT3.R is a dream around here. Living a good life!"

The pace also shows how comfortable Wickens is already despite how long it had been behind the wheel of a race car.

“It's been a steep learning curve,” Wickens said. “Ironically, I felt more prepared last year even though it was my debut in the series. This team is so strong. Mason (Filippi, co-driver) has been doing an amazing job getting me up to speed. It's a full team effort here. Hopefully we can play from P2 and try to get a podium."

There is some additional satisfaction with the result, though, considering the chaos of last year’s qualifying outing at the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit, where he started the weekend off strong but was left finishing 15th in class.

"A bit of a redemption from last year, even making it through FP2 and having a clean weekend this year compared to last. DXDT Racing and Corvette Racing are doing an amazing job,” Wickens said.

“The car is so nice to drive. When I heard I missed it by a tenth (of a second), you immediately know as a driver where you could have found it. It’s a good problem to have. We had the equipment to put it on the pole today. Hopefully with a little more experience, I can get a little more from the car and from the hand control system from Bosch. Going into this weekend, if you told me I’d be on the front row, I would have taken it."