He may have just joined the Porsche driver lineup at Watkins Glen, but Gianmaria Bruni has already put the team on pole at Lime Rock Park.

Bruni’s lap time in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR of 0:50.404 is 0.344 of a second faster than last year’s pole position. In the ultra-competitive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class, it’s no surprise that everyone in the top six went faster than last year’s polesitter, the No. 67 Ford GT.

“Obviously since this morning, we
have to go through some program because for me it was seven years I have not been here,” Bruni said.

“I actually never raced because [last time] my teammate at the time crashed so I was learning again.

“With a new car and new team, and my teammate was new here, we go slowly into the program, learning the track and not making big changes in the car, just get the best out of it knowledge from the circuit.

“Even if it’s very small circuit, it’s tricky circuit and difficult.”

Though they didn’t get pole position this year at Lime Rock, the No. 67 did manage to take a front row spot, qualifying second.

Third place went to Bruni’s teammate, Dirk Werner, in the No. 911 Porsche. Werner will start alongside John Edwards in the No. 24 BMW M6 GTLM machine.

The third row belongs to the pair of Corvette C7.Rs with Tommy Milner in the No. 4 just pipping championship leader Jan Magnussen in the sister No. 3.

Despite leading the first practice session, and finishing second in the second, Dirk Mueller could do no better than seventh in the No. 66 Ford GT. He’ll start alongside Bill Auberlen in the second BMW, the winner of the prior two races.

In GTD, Madison Snow put the No. 48 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 on pole. Snow set the fastest lap in the second practice session and continued that form into qualifying.

? Big day for @PorscheNAracing at @limerockpark with @GianmariaBruni taking his first pole in only his third @IMSA race for @porsche! pic.twitter.com/J0C6C6rCgw

— Michelin USA (@MichelinUSA) July 21, 2017

#IMSA – #GTLM qualifying result #NorthEastGP: Pole for #911RSR No 912 @GianmariaBruni P3 for No 911 @DWernerRacing @Porsche @PorscheNewsroom pic.twitter.com/gz3TOcO6GC

— Porsche Motorsport (@PorscheRaces) July 21, 2017

P4 on the grid for @JEdwardsRacing and @MartinTomczyk. Bill Auberlen and @AlexanderSims will start from P8 at @limerockpark! #BMWM6GTLM pic.twitter.com/kQ3WH6SUp7

— BMW Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) July 21, 2017

//imsa.alkamelsystems.com/Results/17_2017/16_Lime%20Rock%20Park/01_IMSA%20WeatherTech%20SportsCar%20Championship/201707211715_Qualifying/05_Results%20by%20Class.PDF