Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin bounced back from a practice clash with the prototype of Chris Dyson to storm to pole on the streets of Baltimore.

Gavin and Dyson made contact at the hairpin with the Corvette suffering damage the car’s exhaust and bodywork when he turned in only to find Dyson trying to sneak down the inside.

The “territorial dispute” left the Corvette Racing crew with some quick work in pit lane to do between the short gap from final practice to qualifying. The day’s disrupted schedule compacted the time available to make the repairs even tighter.

But once on track in qualifying there was no holding back for the Brit who will share the car today with fellow championship leader, Tommy Milner.

“The car was just great, fantastic,” said Gavin.

“Chuck, our engineer, and Tommy have been working away to make sure we’ve got a good car and I’m delighted with the set up.  I managed to throw down some good laps at the start of the session.  It’s always tough round a street circuit but I love the challenge and the fact there’s grip in some places and not others, and the car is leaping in the air and jumping around!

“It’s very satisfying to be on pole, and to nail it on a street circuit, and this is definitely one for the guys after they worked so hard to get the car repaired and back out in time.  You have to take a deep breath to get a quick lap here but I really relish giving it a go, and the new chicane added an extra element of the unknown into it all.”

His best time of 1:29.945, set on the fourth of seven laps was good enough for pole position by 0.382 seconds, and Gavin was the only driver to go under 90 seconds in qualifying.  It is his 20th class pole in the ALMS, but his first of the 2012 season.

BMW’s Joerg Mueller was second in qualifying with Gavin’s teammate Jan Magnussen in third.

Mueller’s teammate Dirk Mueller suffered a wild spin exiting the newly-installed chicane with the car suffering minor damage after contact with the wall.