BMW’s Bill Auberlen continued the amazing record in the GT Le Mans class in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship by becomming the 14th different pole winner in 14 races.

Since the debut of the championship in Daytona in 2014, no driver has scored more than a single pole position in the hotly contested GTLM division.

Auberlen went close to scoring the pole here at Long Beach last year only for Jan Magnussen to push him back in the dying moments of the session. He made it work this year with a record time of 1 minute, 17.268 seconds.

Magnussen set the pace early in qualifying today but both BMW’s overran the Corvette ace as the session came to an end.

BMW ended up with a 1-2 result with John Edwards joining his teammate on the front row of the grid.

“Last year we sat in the same position on the pole and then here comes Magnussen,” Auberlen said.

“Winning this race, this is my home race, I live just down the street from here. I’m a Southern Californian so I feel everyone’s energy around here. This is the crown jewel for me. I don’t want to win any other race than this one.

“I’m looking at the yard house, its the perfect back drop. Theres lots of people around here enjoying the weather, they’re probably enjoying a beer. We came out of Sebring, I’m 46 years old, the guys on my team are just out of diapers and they set the pole. I’m the oldest guy here and I got the pole here today.

“BMW worked really hard this off-season which gave us a lot of speed. When Sebring was over they started doing stuff on the car, and when you put together a BMW, Rahal Letterman racing and some Michelin tires, you get a great car.”

Third on the grid is the Risi Competizione of Giancarlo Fisichella. The Italian hit the wall in the final moments of practice, damaging the rear bodywork and breaking off the rear wing.

The Risi team scrambled to repair the car – getting the ex-Formula 1 ace out in time to record a qualifying time.