79 on front row, 97 to start fourth
Braselton, Ga., (November 12, 2021) – Matt Campbell (Australia), Mathieu Jaminet (France), and Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) will start on the front row for the 24th running of the Motul Petit Le Mans from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to run tomorrow.
Under cold conditions the battle for the last pole of the IMSA GTLM era was fought to the last lap of the 15-minute qualifying session. Campbell had the wheel of the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche RSR and posted a lap of 1:15.738 good for second place on the final GTLM grid.
“I did my best possible job in qualifying, but the BMW was quite fast,” Campbell said. “I think we can make a few adjustments to the car with the Proton Competition guys and girls to improve the car. P2 is not a bad position to start. The night will be a little unknown tomorrow as it will be colder. We didn’t have as much night running as we would have liked last night. I think the car will improve in the night, so that can work to our favor.”
In the team’s second entry Frédéric Makowiecki (France) had the controls of the No. 97 WeatherTech Racing Porsche RSR for the session. He had an early spin which affected the tires and his remaining time on the track, but he managed to put in a lap of 1:16.004 that will have him starting directly behind the 79 on the grid for tomorrow’s 12:10 p.m. ET start. Makowiecki is joined in the car by Kévin Estre (France) and Michael Christensen (Netherlands).
“I am not so happy about my own performance in qualifying,” Mackowiecki said. “We didn’t have the speed for the pole. We couldn’t find the solid rear that we had in free practice. I had an early spin and that didn’t help the tires. Let’s see if we can make the car easier to drive for tomorrow. We have a good starting position for the race.”
The 24th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will be broadcast live starting at noon ET Saturday, Nov. 13 on NBC before moving to NBCSN at 3 p.m. through the race conclusion. Nonstop coverage is also available on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold and IMSA Radio (XM 202, SiriusXM Online 992).