+ Gounon promoted to pole after post-session penalty for Random Vandals
+ BMW's American squad set back after post-session checks
+ Title rivals Marciello and Van der Linde start second and third
+ Provisional Result: Pole Shootout
Jules Gounon and Lone Star Racing will start from pole position for tomorrow’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS after inheriting top spot for the Intercontinental GT Challenge season finale.
The #80 Mercedes-AMG initially finished second in the Pole Shootout but was promoted a spot after provisional pole-sitter Philipp Eng and the Random Vandals Racing BMW team was stripped of the result following a technical infringement during post-session checks.
It initially looked like Random Vandals Racing had beaten the much-fancied international teams to pole when Eng snatched the fastest time just seconds after Gounon had hit the front with his best lap. However, the #51 BMW was demoted back to 10th for being underweight, handing Gounon and Lone Star back top spot for the season finale.
The initial blows were dealt by IGTC's drivers' championship contenders, Kelvin van der Linde and Raffaele Marciello, whose Team WRT M4s now lead BMW's assault. The title rivals had been set to share the second row of the grid, but will now start second and third. Marciello – who trails his South African team-mate by five points – enjoyed a spell at the top of the times early on before being pushed back, but still holds a slim advantage over the sister car.
Gounon, whose Lone Star entry led qualifying earlier in the afternoon, was the first to demote the Belgian BMWs with four minutes remaining when he trimmed 0.033s from Marciello's pole time. However, Eng upset the order moments later by sensationally reasserting Munich's control, before the post-session penalty intervened.
Connor de Phillippi salvaged some pride for Random Vandals by qualifying fifth quickest and will now be bumped to fourth. Chaz Mostert moved the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG he shares with IGTC's Independent Cup title contender Kenny Habul up to fifth.
A low-key session meant Mercedes-AMG duo Lucas Auer (JMF Motorsports) and Maro Engel (GMR) will starts from sixth and seventh. The same can also be said of former Indy 8 Hour pole winner Laurin Heinrich, who will start eighth in the sole Porsche.
Turner Motorsport's BMW will line up ninth despite failing to set a lap after a leak prevented Justin Rothberg from running, with the demoted Random Vandals M4 rounding out the top 10.
The rest of the 25-strong grid was set in qualifying earlier today.
This year's IGTC and GT World Challenge America finales go green at 12:20 local time (GMT -4) on Saturday. Fans can watch all eight hours live on SRO's GT World YouTube channel.