• Katherine Legge pilots her Acura NSX GT3 to GTD pole
• Dane Cameron leads Acura Team Penske to front-row prototype start
• Helio Castroneves qualifies his Acura ARX-05 prototype third

Katherine Legge led the way for Acura Saturday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, setting a new GTD lap record to claim the pole in her NSX GT3 for Sunday's America's Tire 250.  Legge's effort marks the second front-row start this season for the NSX GT3, and the first GTD class pole for Acura and Legge in 2018.

In Prototype, Dane Cameron took his Acura ARX-05 to second in qualifying, earning him a starting position on the outside of the front row, with his Acura Team Penske teammate Helio Castoneves qualifying third. 

Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Legge needed only four laps to hustle her #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 to a new GTD lap record time of 1:24.456, taking the pole by a margin of 13 hundredths of a second over her primary rival for the 2018 GTD championship, Madison Snow.  She will start tomorrow's two hour, 40-minute endurance race before handing over to co-driver Alvaro Parente.

Justin Marks qualified the #93 MSR Acura 10th in the highly-competitive GTD field, and will share the car in tomorrow's race with co-driver Lawson Aschenbach.

Acura Team Penske Prototype Acura Team Penske's Dane Cameron battled Wayne Taylor Racing's Jordan Taylor and the second Penske Acura ARX-05, driven by Helio Castroneves for qualifying honors throughout the 15-minute prototype qualifying.  When the checkers flew to end the session, Cameron was second, 39 hundredths of a second off the pole time set by Taylor. Helio Castroneves ended the session third, and will share driving duties tomorrow with Ricky Taylor [brother of Jordan] in the #7 Acura ARX-05.

Cameron's effort marked the seventh front-row qualifying result for Acura Team Penske in nine races this season, including poles at Long Beach and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Quotes Katherine Legge (driver, #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3) pole qualifier, first pole of 2018: "The car was really great for qualifying. I pitted after that [quickest] lap thinking that was pretty much all I had, and to also make sure we looked after the tires for tomorrow. I sat there for a good five minutes [until the end of qualifying] thinking 'please don't let anyone go faster!'. That was the hardest part. The car, I think, will be great for the race.  We just can't make any mistakes and [need to] come home with a good finish."

Dane Cameron (driver, #6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05) qualified second overall and in prototype, seventh front-row start for the Acura ARX-05 in nine races: "That was a decent qualifying effort today, second and third for Acura Team Penske.  We've been pretty good all week, but lacking that little extra bit needed for the pole.  But a good, strong qualifying.  It's important to qualify up front here, so that was a good box to check.  Our race pace has been pretty strong.  You need a really well-balanced race car here, and we've been focused on that."

Where to watch the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prx The Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix, Featuring America's Tire 250 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, starts at 5 p.m. EDT Sunday, September 9, with live television coverage on Fox Sports 1.

Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.

Social media content and video links from this weekend's Acura IMSA prototype and GTD racing action at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca are available on HPD's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and on Twitter at  (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD). 

Produced by the Carolinas Production Group, YouTube video packages can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV. 

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Circuit:       WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (2.238-mile road course) Monterey, CA Weather:     Sunny, mild, 52 degrees F

Top-6 Prototype Qualifying Results:   Ps.       Class                  Drivers                                                         Team                                Chassis                              Time/Notes                  1.        Prototype            Renger Van Der Zande / Jordan Taylor Wayne Taylor Racing    Cadillac DPi VR                1:16.181    2.        Prototype          Dane Cameron/Juan Pablo Montoya  Acura Team Penske     Acura ARX-05                  +0.395 seconds    3.        Prototype          Ricky Taylor / Helio Castroneves        Acura Team Penske     Acura ARX-05                  +0.481 seconds    4.        Prototype            Pipo Derani / Johannes van OverbeekTequila Patron ESM       Nissan JSP 217                                     5.        Prototype            Colin Braun / Jonathan Bennett              CORE Autosport              ORECA 07 Gibson              6.        Prototype            Harry Tincknell / Jonathan Bomarito       Mazda Team Joest         Mazda RT24P                  

Top-6 GTD Qualifying Results:   Ps.       Class                  Drivers                                                         Team                                Chassis                              Time/Notes                  1.        GTD                    Alvaro Parente / Katherine Legge       Meyer Shank Racing   Acura NSX GT3               1:24.256-new record    2.        GTD                    Bryan Sellers / Madison Snow                 Paul Miller Racing          Lamborghini Huracan       +0.539 seconds    3.        GTD                    Jeroen Bleekemolen/ Ben Keating           Riley Motorsports            Mercedes AMG GT3           4.        GTD                    Pat Long / Christina Nielsen                     Wright Motorsports         Porsche 911 GT3R             5.        GTD                    Patrick Lindsey / Joerg Bergmeister        Park Place Racing          Porsche 911 GT3R             6.        GTD                    Kyle Marcelli / Dominik Baumann           3 GT Racing                    Lexus RC F GT3              10.         GTD                    Lawson Aschenbach / Justin Marks   Meyer Shank Racing   Acura NSX GT3               1:25.629

*Qualifying driver in italics

# # #