In GTE Am, Ben Keating secured his third pole position of the 2023 season in the No. 33 title-winning Corvette Racing C8.R, with a 1m38.338 with just over four minutes remaining in the first of the three sessions.

Am Qualifying saw multiple cars briefly claim provisional pole, as the times steadily improved across the board when the drivers got used to the grip levels available on the greasy track surface.
But again it would be Keating who would steal the show, with a lap that seemingly came out of nowhere, especially as Corvette hadn’t laid down any markers during practice.

The time bettered the best tour from Iron Dames’ Sarah Bovy by just 0.035, which was good enough for provisional pole for a handful of seconds before the Texan completed his best lap.

“I don’t know why (race engineer) Tyler Neff has to wait until qualifying to give us the excellent setup!” said Keating.
“I went more than two seconds per lap faster in qualifying today than I have at any other time this weekend.
It’s because the setup is that much better. It was so confidence-inspiring. I could really push the car without losing grip, even on a damp track.

“I don’t know what they did, but the car was really nice to drive. I wasn’t expecting to be on the pole.
It’s always so much fun to be that close with Sarah. She did a good job. I thought I had a pretty good lap and then the team said she did a 1:38.3, and I came across the line at a 38.3 and not knowing who was going to be in front. It was super, super close.”

Behind the Corvette C8.R and Iron Dames Porsche, the No. 777 D’Station Racing and No. 98 Northwest AMR Aston Martins took the spots on the second row, with the fastest Ferrari the No. 21 from AF Corse securing fifth on the grid after a strong performance from Hiroshi Koizumi.