Robusto Claims Pole for Race 2 in Wet Qualifying

Photo: Fred Hardy/SRO

Will Robusto claimed pole position in tricky conditions for the second Toyota GR Cup North America race of the weekend at Sonoma Raceway.

The RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate driver reeled off a 2:13.033 lap in his No. 2 Toyota GR86 before a red flag briefly interrupted the 15-minute wet session.

While drivers had just under two minutes of green flag running after the red was cleared, no one was able to best Robusto’s benchmark time.

Max Schweid will roll off the grid in second for Race 2, with his best lap aboard the No. 98 TechSport machine 1.106 seconds down on Robusto’s pace.

Early pace-setter Jaxon Bell set the third-best time of the session for Copeland Motorsports, ahead of Ethan Ayars’s Nitro Motorsports Toyota in fourth.

Livio Galanti, meanwhile, completed the top five for Eagles Canyon Racing Powered by Fast Track aboard the No. 89 GR86.

A red flag came out with just over five minutes remaining when the No. 93 Eagles Canyon Toyota of Patrick Brunson found the tire barriers.

Brunson lost his two quickest qualifying laps as a penalty for bringing out the red.

In total, five drivers were listed as “not classified” in the session, including Copeland’s Beltre Curtis and John Lennon, BSI’s Shea Holbrook, and Brunson, who brought out the red flag.

Race 2 for GR Cup North America takes the green flag at 12:55 p.m. PST with live streaming coverage available on grcup.com and on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Qualifying 2