BMW’s Andy Priaulx has never raced at the famed Watkins Glen International but the three-time World Touring Car Champion proved himself to be a quick study by scoring the pole for BMW Team RLL today.

As times tumbled throughout the session which featured a battle between BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche and the Dodge Viiper – Priaulx stopped the clocks on his final flying lap.

Priaulx has never raced here before but the BMW team did enjoy a two-day test at the former home of the US Formula 1 Grand Prix earlier this year.

The pole position was first Priaulx and the first for BMW Team RLL in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

“It’s amazing when you drive into this place, you can feel the history,” Priaulx said.

“I think you only get that a few tracks, like Imola – places like that – or Monza in Europe; some of the really old school tracks: Oulton Park. And of course this place has a lot of history and it has been one of the top international circuits in Formula one tracks in the old days.

“It’s just got character and you can feel it in places. I was delighted to get the chance to qualify today, in all fairness Bill [Auberlen] has been quick and you know we’ve got a great car this weekend. So for me to get a chance to qualify the car today was amazing.

“Luckily I came and tested here a few weeks ago and I got my eye in early. I’m learning every track this year. It’s going well, we’re leading the championship. Pole is nice and it’s always nice for the ego but we’ve got to maintain our position in the championship. Bill has been a front-runner here a long long time, so I’ve just got to work on bringing Bill a clean car. It’s an amazing track, absolutely fantastic but tomorrow is a new day, we’ll see what happens.”

Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen spoiled the BMW party when he put his Corvette Racing entry second – just a 10th of a second ahead of Priaulx’s BMW teamamte Dirk Mueller. This was the on track equivalent of two inches of race track!

Porsche’s Michael Christensen was fourth fastest with Jonathan Bomarito headed the Dodge Viper squad in fifth over teammate Dominik Farnbacher.

The top 10 GT Le Mans cars were covered by only 1.1 seconds in qualifying.

In GT Daytona class action, Leh Keen scored the pole for Alex Job run Porsche squad ahead of Dane Cameron’s BMW and Jeroen Bleekemolen’s Dodge Viper.