Qualifying at the 2021 25 Hours of Thunderhill Presented by Hawk Performance isn’t as important as a typical race, but it does give teams a snapshot of where the competition stands before the endurance race begins Saturday morning. It’s also a chance for officials to measure sound levels and to ensure that transponders are working.
If the Friday qualifying at Thunderhill Raceway is any indication, Crowdstrike/Mosaic Motorsports is one to watch. Running a 2021 Duqene LMP3 car powered by a Nissan V8 engine, the team turned a 1:39.332-second lap on the 3-mile road course to earn pole position for the 25-hour endurance race, which starts at Saturday at 11 a.m. and ends Sunday at noon.
“Everybody likes being on pole. We like being the fastest. It’s always nice to dominate a qualifying session,” said Crowdstrike/Mosiac Motorsports driver Matt Bell. “It does make that first hour or two a little bit less stressful. There’s no traffic to deal with, there’s not potential to get into anybody else. Usually, you can put your head down and check out. It makes the start of the race a little nicer.”
Since qualifying started just as the sun was setting Friday, it gave teams the opportunity to test the headlights and make any necessary adjustments since almost 14 hours of the race is run in darkness.
When the 25 Hours of Thunderhill race starts Saturday, about 40 cars are expected to line up on the grid. Nearly all teams participated in Friday’s qualifying.
Rounding out the top five qualifiers are:
TVI Racing, 1:41.18; ESR, Norma
Team Norma, 1:43.132; ESR, Norma
One Motorsports 2, 1:44.015; ESR, Radical
Stratus Racing, 1:46.613, ES, SEBECO NP01-EVO
To follow the event live, visit the 25 Hours of Thunderhill page on Race Hero. To see all the results from qualifying visit the results page on Race Hero.