Mazda Team Joest and ace driver Oliver Jarvis have found qualifying magic yet again ahead of this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The British driver was able to pilot his Mazda RT24-P DPi to pole position once more, this time around the old-school 3.4-mile Watkins Glen circuit. Setting a class track record in the process, the No. 77 car secured P1 for Sunday’s race start in which Team Joest will look yet again to secure its first IMSA win with the Japanese manufacturer.
Jarvis’ time of 1:29.639 was enough to edge out the dominant-as-of-late No. 6 Acura ARX-05 DPi fielded by Team Penske. Dane Cameron, who has won the last two IMSA rounds alongside co-driver Juan Pablo Montoya, pushed his Acura prototype to second place with a time of 1:29.862, just two-tenths off the lead.
Team Joest and Mazda were too dialed in to let any of their rivals ahead, though, as Jarvis claimed his third pole of the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech season, all of them being track records for the top-tier prototype class.
“That was incredible,” Jarvis explained of his fastest lap. “We didn’t quite have the car we wanted all weekend, but the team did an amazing job and we had It for qualifying when it mattered. I didn’t quite get the perfect lap, but I’m pleased with pole and a new track record —and I just got a John Doonan bear hug which is always a good sign. The Mazda RT24-P was spot on and to get the pole makes us very confident.”
You can catch the onboard video in which Jarvis lays the former prototype track record to rest below.
Video courtesy: Racer and Mazda Motorsports.