British-Kiwi-Swede Tom Blomqvist narrowly missed out on the top spot in qualifying for the 2025 Twelve Hours of Sebring after a thrilling session that saw Dries Vanthoor take pole for BMW. Blomqvist is one of several Kiwis competing in the race this weekend.
Blomqvist qualified second with a time of 1:47.116 in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06. He came up just 0.025 seconds short of knocking Vanthoor off the pole on his final qualifying lap.
Blomqvist is sharing the entry with fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon and American Colin Braun. The trio, along with Felix Rosenqvist, finished second in the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona, just 1.3 seconds behind the winner. They are now in a strong position heading into the Twelve Hours of Sebring, hoping to improve on that result.
Another Kiwi lining up in the GTP class is Brendon Hartley, who will be co-driving the #40 Cadillac Meyer Shank Racing entry with Louis Delétraz and Jordan Taylor. Delétraz qualified the car, finishing up in seventh place, approximately one second off the pace.
Unfortunately, it was a difficult session for the other Kiwi in the GTP class, Earl Bamber. The No. 31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R, with Jack Aitken behind the wheel, stopped on track early in the session. This ended their qualifying attempt, forcing them to start 13th and last in the GTP Class.
Moving to LMP2, the battle for pole position was between the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 of Steven Thomas and the No. 99 AO Racing entry of PJ Hyett.
The two drivers traded the top spot several times during the session, with Thomas and Hyett being the only LMP2 drivers to break the 1-minute 52-second barrier. In the end, it was Thomas who secured pole position, narrowly edging out Hyett by just 0.115 of a second.
Thomas credited his co-drivers – Platinum-rated Mikkel Jensen and Silver-rated Kiwi Hunter McElrea – after achieving his sixth IMSA Pole Position.
“Here at Sebring, with all the bumps, it’s very challenging to stay on your limit every corner, all the way around. Hunter and Mikkel coached me up and helped me get this pole, which I really appreciate.”
The Twelve Hours of Sebring is scheduled to start at 3:10 am tomorrow morning NZT. You can follow the action live on YouTube or IMSA.TV.
Header Image: Meyer Shank Racing Facebook
