Mazda moved a step closer to its first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory by scoring its second pole position today at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Tristan Nunez put the No.55 car on pole for the second time – backing up his performance from Mazda Raceway Laguna Second.

The second Mazda of Tom Long was third fastest with the Corvette Daytona Prototype of Ricky Taylor splitting the Mazda machines.

After spending time in the lead at both Mazda Raceway and Watkins Glen, the Mazda squad are moving ever closer to locking down their first IMSA victory in the prototype class.

“It’s a little saying we have at Mazda, and that’s “never stop challenging,” Nunez said.

“I think, even going back to the diesel program, that saying is really showing off. We had a pole at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and we learned a lot from that race. Qualifying is good, but we have one focus and that’s to win the race tomorrow.

“Everyone’s prepared for that. The drivers, crew, everyone was working their tails off at the shop, practicing pit stops. And the drivers have been working to be physically fit because this track is very challenging.

“Now we’re going to go out and see how it turns out tomorrow. The competition is fierce. Everyone is really talented behind these cars. It’s amazing for the fans to see and it’s amazing we have this level of talent in the series.

“This series is not like a lot of other series you see where one guy takes off and he just kind of leads it. Plus the traffic that we have to get through. It just adds to the excitement.”

Watkins Glen race winner Christian Fittipaldi was fourth fastest ahead of Eric Curran and Marc Goossens.

In the PC class, Colin Braun put the CORE autosport entry on pole – using a new car built-up on site at Watkins Glen after suffering suspension issues with its previous chassis.

James French was second fastest and head Stephen Simpson.

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