In a last lap attempt, Global Racing Group driver Benjamin Pedersen claimed the first pole of the season by less than four tenths of a second over Velocity Racing Development rookie Mathias Soler-Obel, who lead qualifying for most of the opening session, at Barber Motorsports Park early Saturday morning.
"All of our efforts went into getting pole to put ourselves in a good position to win the opening race," said Pedersen. "The session was interesting and we knew that we had to go out there and get the fastest lap. We were able to do that."
Global Racing Group rookie and reigning F4 U.S. champion Dakota Dickerson ran the quickest in both official practice sessions on Friday, but was beat out by Pedersen and Soler-Obel by less than half a second in qualifying. He will lead the second row in the season debut.
Returning team champions Abel Motorsports took the fourth fastest time in the session with its lead driver Jacob Abel wheeling the No. 51 Abel Construction Ligier JS F3. Irish rookie James Roe Jr. completed the top-five.
The 13-car F3 Americas field take the green at 11:45 am CT for a 30-minute race around the scenic 16-turn, 2.38-mile circuit. Follow live timing and scoring here or on the Race Monitor App.
Barber Official Qualifying Results-Round 1
|
PO |
Car NO |
Name/Hometown |
Sponsor |
Best Time |
Diff |
|
1 |
24 |
Benjamin Pedersen/Copenhagen DNK |
Dirtfish / Bell Helmets / Heart of Racing |
1:21.221 |
- |
|
2 |
14 |
Mathias Soler Obel (R)/Bogota COL |
Equidem Management |
1:21.614 |
0.393 |
|
3 |
72 |
Dakota Dickerson (R)/San Diego Calif. |
Belterra Eye Care / RoxBalden / Bell Helmets / Stres |
1:21.681 |
0.460 |
|
4 |
51 |
Jacob Abel/Louisville Ky. |
Abel Construction |
1:21.798 |
0.577 |
|
5 |
95 |
James Roe Jr. (R)/CountyKildare IRL |
CJJ Motorsports |
1:22.531 |
1.310 |
|
6 |
9 |
Baltazar Leguizamon/Buenos Aires ARG |
Motorola |
1:22.583 |
1.362 |
|
7 |
99 |
Logan Cusson (R)/Port Hope CAN |
Echelon Wealth Partners / Peerage Capital |
1:22.832 |
1.611 |
|
8 |
25 |
Dominic Cicero (M)/Portland Ore. |
Russak Foods / The Thermal Club |
1:22.993 |
1.772 |
|
9 |
16 |
Kent Vaccaro (R)/Plattsburgh N.Y. |
Adirondack Radiation Therapy |
1:23.177 |
1.956 |
|
10 |
5 |
Parker Locke/San Antonio Texas |
Velocity Racing Development |
1:23.340 |
2.119 |
|
11 |
67 |
Shea Holbrook (R)/Jacksonville Fla. |
Lucas Oil |
1:24.092 |
2.871 |
|
12 |
61 |
John Paul Southern Jr./Westlake Ohio |
Southern Motorsports |
1:25.555 |
4.334 |
|
13 |
34 |
Austin Kaszuba (R)/Burleson Texas |
Kiwi Motorsport / Better Human App / Gunk / Liquid |
1:28.566 |
7.345 |
