Gianmaria Bruni piloted the No. 62 Risi Ferrari to its third consecutive pole position this season. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

Risi Competizione scored its third consecutive pole in the GT class with the quickest lap from Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 62 Ferrari F430 GT, a 1:47.667. This is Bruni’s second career American Le Mans Series pole (Detroit 2007) and first this season.

Four different manufacturers on two different tire manufacturers completed the top seven, split by merely 0.355 of a second. Michelin technical partners swept the top four and Ferrari the top three positions on the grid. This weekend also marks the first race of both Ferrari teams, Risi and Extreme Speed Motorsports, running on E85 ethanol, the second-generation biofuel that now fuels 10 of the 13 cars in GT. This gives both teams a great chance at not only winning the race but the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge on Sunday.

“Winning the pole was very good because the competition is so close,” Bruni said. “The Risi team is working very hard and we qualified first and third so we are both right there.”

Johannes van Overbeek continued to impress aboard the car owned by his co-driver, Scott Sharp. “JVO” qualified on the outside of the front row for the second straight race. His quickest lap was a 1:47.729.

The striking black and green Patron-sponsored Extreme Speed Motorsports No. 81 Ferrari is the meat in a Risi sandwich. The sister No. 61 Risi, driven by Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander, lines up third with Vilander qualifying at 1:47.909.

After the trio of Ferraris come the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche, the No. 92 and No. 90 Rahal Letterman BMWs, and the No. 4 Corvette. The top nine of 12 that set times during GT qualifying were still covered by less than a second. The No. 17 Porsche did not set a time after a fire during the morning’s practice session, but is expected to start on Sunday.