Marino Franchitti scored his first P2 class pole since Sebring in 2010 today with an impressive performance for Level 5 Motorsport at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Also a pole winner in PC at Mid-Ohio last year, today’s outing was Franchitti’s first opportunity to qualify for the team this season.

He led a Level 5 Motorsport 1-2 in qualifying pushing Ryan Briscoe back to second place on the grid alongside an impressive run from former GT ace Johannes van Overbeek who put his ESM P2 machine in third.

Franchitti, Briscoe and team boss Scott Tucker are looking to bounce back this weekend after a troubled run on the streets of Long Beach.

“After the tough race we had at Long Beach for Level 5, Scott, Ryan, myself, the whole team have been working hard to bounce back strong, we’ve done that today,” Franchitti said.

“This is my first chance to qualify this year, I’m really delighted to get the pole. The cars are very close, we got 1-2, that was our aim. It was important to get that.

“The ESM cars are strong, maybe not as strong as Long Beach, but they’ll be there over the four hours. If we slip up, they’ll be there.

“They are pushing us hard, the competition between the two teams are great, I’m very excited. With motor racing, you never know how it will play out, so we’ll take what comes to us tomorrow. We’ll take what comes to us and see how it turns out.”