Earl Bamber gave Cadillac the pole position for the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic in a qualifying session that lasted eleven minutes and ended with a red flag when Kevin Estre hit the wall in Turn 2. Bamber, in the V-Series.R of Whelen Action Express Racing, was already leading the timesheets with a lap of 1m05.313s before the Porsche crashed. Louis Deletraz, 322 thousandths behind in the other Cadillac of Wayne Taylor Racing, completes the front row for a race that brings together only the GTP and GTD Pro classes.

Photo By IMSA

Kevin Estre lost control of the Porsche 963 after swerving to avoid his teammate Felipe Nasr, who had run deep at the first corner. The session was not restarted, and IMSA regulations deleted the driver's two best laps, meaning he will start tenth. Nasr also lost his best lap due to a penalty accumulated in first practice on Friday and will start eighth. The incident extends a difficult stretch for Estre, who two weeks ago retired from the 24 Hours of Nürburgring after a crash in the Manthey Racing Porsche.

Photo By IMSA

Bamber had been fastest in both practice sessions on Friday and confirmed that pace in qualifying. Cadillac placed two of its three cars on the front row. Nick Yelloly put the Acura of Meyer Shank Racing in third position, 539 thousandths back, with the BMW M Hybrid V8s of Team WRT occupying the second row. Marco Wittmann was fourth and Sheldon van der Linde fifth. Tom Blomqvist, in the other MSR Acura, was sixth, ahead of Filipe Albuquerque in the third Cadillac from WTR. The championship leader, Laurin Heinrich, did not complete a clean lap and will start 11th in the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche.

In GTD Pro, Alexander Sims led a 1-2 for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports with a time of 1m09.354s, 43 thousandths ahead of Tommy Milner. Ben Barnicoat placed the Vasser Sullivan Lexus in third position. The second row in the category went to the Ford Mustang GT3s of Ben Barker and Fred Vervisch. Neil Verhagen, in the Paul Miller Racing BMW, matched the time of Chaz Mostert's Lexus, and both will share sixth position with a lap of 1m09.961s.

Photo By IMSA

The 100‑minute race takes place on Saturday at 4 p.m. on the streets of Detroit. Bamber defends the pole, Porsche must fight back, and Heinrich will try to limit the damage from 11th place.

Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic 2026 — Qualification

Pos	class	#	drivers	team	car	Gap
1	GTP	#31	Jack Aitken Earl Bamber	Cadillac Whelen	Cadillac V-Series.R	-
2	GTP	#40	Jordan Taylor Louis Deletraz	Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	Cadillac V-Series.R	+0.322
3	GTP	#93	Renger van der Zande Nick Yelloly	Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian	Acura ARX-06	+0.539
4	GTP	#25	Philipp Eng Marco Wittmann	BMW M Team WRT	BMW M Hybrid V8	+0.578
5	GTP	#24	Sheldon van der Linde Dries Vanthoor	BMW M Team WRT	BMW M Hybrid V8	+0.663
6	GTP	#60	Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun	Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian	Acura ARX-06	+0.812
7	GTP	#10	Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque	Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	Cadillac V-Series.R	+1.151
8	GTP	#7	Felipe Nasr Julien Andlauer	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Porsche 963	+1.257
9	GTP	#23	Ross Gunn Roman De Angelis	ASTON MARTIN THOR Team	Aston Martin Valkyrie	+1.957
10	GTP	#6	Laurens Vanthoor Kevin Estre	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Porsche 963	+2.157
11	GTP	#5	Tijmen van der Helm Laurin Heinrich	JDC-Miller MotorSports	Porsche 963	+2.412
12	GTDPRO	#3	Antonio Garcia Alexander Sims	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	+4.041
13	GTDPRO	#4	Tommy Milner Nicky Catsburg	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	+4.084
14	GTDPRO	#14	Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat	Vasser Sullivan Racing	Lexus RC F GT3	+4.350
15	GTDPRO	#64	Ben Barker Dennis Olsen	Ford Racing	Ford Mustang GT3	+4.395
16	GTDPRO	#65	Christopher Mies Frederic Vervisch	Ford Racing	Ford Mustang GT3	+4.559
17	GTDPRO	#1	Neil Verhagen Connor De Phillippi	Paul Miller Racing	BMW M4 GT3 EVO	+4.648
18	GTDPRO	#15	Aaron Telitz Chaz Mostert	Vasser Sullivan Racing	Lexus RC F GT3	+4.648
19	GTDPRO	#59	Max Esterson Nikita Johnson	RLL Team McLaren	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	+5.170
20	GTDPRO	#77	Nick Tandy Harry King	AO Racing	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	+5.185
21	GTDPRO	#9	Andrea Caldarelli Sandy Mitchell	Pfaff Motorsports	Lamborghini Temerario GT3	+5.726