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Long Beach, Calif. (12 April 2019) – Whelen Engineering Racing driver Felipe Nasr got off to a fast start for the BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix on Friday, scoring the second fastest time during Friday’s qualifying session after posting a 1:11.550-second lap.
The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi V.R of Nasr and Pipo Derani kicked off the weekend with strong pace, turning the quickest time during Friday morning’s first practice session and then following that up with the second fastest time during the second practice of the day.
The Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac has historically been quick along the 1.968-mile street course, with a front row start in 2018 and a best finish of third in 2016. Nasr and Derani are also bringing the momentum of a big Sebring 12 Hour victory to follow up their run to second place in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“We’re on the front row again for Long Beach which is a good start for us,” said Nasr. “Those Acuras were fast, so congrats to them for getting pole position. I felt pretty happy during the practices sessions and heading into qualifying. The tea has done an amazing job to work on the details ahead of qualifying. We made really good changes and the car continued to improve.”
The 100 minute sprint race will be the first of the season for the No. 31 Whelen duo and Nasr is pleased with how he and Derani have collaborated to continue to improve so far this weekend.
“Pipo did an amazing job to get a good read on the car,” said Nasr. “I think both team cars pretty strong heading into the race tomorrow and hopefully we can have better luck in the race than we did last year.”
The BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix will be broadcast live on NBCSN with a green flag set for 2:05 PST on Saturday, April 12th.
