Aaron Jeansonne is riding a wave of momentum in Porsche Carrera Cup North America, and his latest success came in Thursday morning’s qualifying session at Road Atlanta.
The rookie driver captured his first Race Brew Pole Award just last month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before he quickly earned his second at the Braselton, Georgia racetrack. Sandwiched between the two pole positions was his first Carrera Cup victory during Race 2 at the Brickyard.
Jeansonne’s quickest lap came late in the half hour session, as he nipped Kellymoss teammate Riley Dickinson with just over five minutes remaining. The pole-winning time of one minute, 21.136 seconds was less than two tenths faster than Dickinson’s, but the pair went on for a Kellymoss front row sweep.
“It was a bit unexpected,” said Jeansonne. “Yesterday was a bit challenging in practice, but I think it shows how strong Kellymoss is for us being 1-2 for both races. I had the best car today and it did the job today. I’m proud.
“I’ve just been building confidence all year and really believing that I could do it after Indy. Just trying to replicate what I felt and the process to see if I could do it again. I love this track, so why not do it again?”
Topp Racing locked out the second row with Tyler Maxson in third and Ryan Yardley – the new Pro class championship leader by 10 points over Dickinson – in fourth.
For the third event in a row in the Solairus Aviation Pro-Am category, Alan Metni found himself atop the qualifying charts with a fastest lap time of 1:22.512.
“It’s awesome, I really like this place,” said Metni, whose pole-winning streak dates back to Road America in August. “The crowd is great, the track is great. Kellymoss gave me a great car, I’m pretty happy.”
The longtime Porsche driver refuses to let up in his chase for the title versus season-long rival JP Martinez, who qualified third in his best performance of the weekend thus far. Between the pair is Patrick Mulcahy starting outside the front row, and who finished behind Metni by only .032 seconds.
“There’s always new blood coming into Carrera Cup and it’s kind of nice,” Metni added. “It keeps you fresh and I’ve really enjoyed the competition all year long.”
Despite having wrapped up the Solairus Aviation Masters class title with a resounding lead, Scott Blind has not taken his foot off the gas and proved that with a pole position on Thursday morning. The Ruckus Racing driver was quickest amongst the stacked field at 1:22.692.
“We have a full field, everybody is here,” Blind noted. “I want to make sure I stay sharp and keep pushing. We have all the fast guys here and I don’t want to start sliding. The guys are pushing me, I’m pushing myself. We want to be P1 in qualifying and of course, carry it into the race.”
Blind’s lap was more than half a second quicker than 2024 Masters class champion, Chris Bellomo, and Richard Edge followed in third.
Thursday’s activities continue at Road Atlanta for Porsche Carrera Cup North America, as Race 1 is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. ET. Race 2 follows on Friday at 10:40 a.m.
All Carrera Cup races, including replays from Road Atlanta, will be shown live on IMSA and Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channels, IMSA TV, Peacock, and the Porsche Motorsport North America social channels on Facebook, Linkedin, Threads and X.
