4LT GS RoadsterSEBRING, Fla. - Jan Magnussen will start first in the GT1 class for the second straight year in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R in Saturday's season-opening American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. During today's scheduled 25-minute qualifying session for GT cars, Magnussen negotiated the historic 3.7-mile, 17-turn course in 1:56.539, bettering his pole-winning time in last year's race by .522 seconds. Oliver Gavin also eclipsed last year's pole-winning time in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R with a time of 1:56.928.
The qualifying times for the GT categories were subsequently nullified when the following session for the prototypes was red-flagged before the 10-minute minimum for a qualifying session had elapsed. In accordance with the series' rules, the starting grid for all classes was then determined by practice times recorded during three official sessions.
This decision did not affect the GT1 starting lineup, as Magnussen had turned the quickest lap in practice at 1:56.269 (114.562 mph) and Gavin was second fastest at 1:56.547 (114.289 mph).
"It was a lot warmer during qualifying than it was in the testing and practice that we've done this week at Sebring, so my Corvette was a little bit different than what we were used to," Magnussen said after his two-lap qualifying run. "I had to pass the GT2 Aston, but he was pretty good to me so I don't think I lost any significant time. The Michelin tires came in great on the first lap, and on the second lap I was just polishing the lap time."
Magnussen was first in line when the timed qualifying session began, with Gavin fourth behind a pair of GT2 cars on his out-lap. By the time the yellow Corvettes began their timed laps, they were already beginning to catch the back of the queue.
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