Filippi Scores First IMSA Pole, Wickens on the Front Row

The #77 Elantra N TCR of Mason Filippi will lead the pack to the green flag tomorrow for the first time in his IMSA career. It was also the first time Filippi has qualified in TCR since 2020. This is the second consecutive pole position for the #77 driver pairing of Filippi and Maxson. Maxson qualified first in the season opener at Daytona.

Teammate Robert Wickens was second fastest, just one-tenth of a second behind Filippi. Wickens’ result was notable as it was just his second time qualifying using hand controls.

Harry Gottsacker rounds out the top three, with all six BHA Elantra’s starting inside the top seven positions. The green flag will fall at 4:25 pm ET tomorrow, March 17th for the Alan Jay Automotive 120 at Sebring International Raceway. Catch the action live on Peacock TV.

BHA RESULTS Qualifying Driver/Finishing Driver:

P. 1 #77 Elantra N TCR Filippi/Filippi

P. 2 #33 Elantra N TCR Wickens/Wilkins

P. 3 #98 Elantra N TCR Gottsacker/Chase

P. 5 #1 Elantra N TCR Hagler/Lewis

P. 6 #2 Elantra N TCR Muss/Norman

P. 7 #54 Universal Coating Elantra N TCR Johnson/Simpson

Images: www.bhamedia.com – Image copyright @LATUSA

Video: Subscribe to the BHA YouTube channel for video updates, Interviews and features from each race weekend: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdpjGo7dEuzYazs2ioBMVPQ/videos

Mason Filippi, driver of the #77 Elantra N TCR qualified fastest, and will start from the pole position at Sebring in the Alan Jay 120 on March 17, 2022

Robert Wickens will start second in his second event ever using hand controls.

Starting: 1st Qualifying Time: 2:14.446

Mason Filippi: “It feels amazing to be on pole here at Sebring. Our Hyundai Elantra N TCR was hooked up and felt great out there in qualifying. The weather has been on and off all day, so the track was a bit green, but it was a blast. Big thanks to Hyundai and my BHA crew, they’ve been nailing it and I can’t wait to race tomorrow.”

Starting: 2nd Qualifying Time: 2:14.517

Robert Wickens: “It was fun, I felt like we could have had a result like this in Daytona, but the conditions were changing and it didn’t happen. It hasn’t been easy. A lot of hard work has gone into this. Mark has been doing a great job coaching me and letting me know how to drive these car. Really, the Hyundai Elantra N TCR car is on rails here at Sebring. We locked in the top-three and all of the BHA cars are in the top ten, so now we just need to make sure we challenge for the win tomorrow.”

Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian:

Founded in 2009, Bryan Herta Autosport has grown from a single car Indy-Lights team into a multi-championship winning auto racing franchise. Led by IndyCar and Sports Car star Bryan Herta, Bryan Herta Autosport has won races in every discipline they have entered, including Indy Lights, Indy Car, Global Rallycross, and championship titles in Pirelli World Challenge and IMSA. BHA rose to prominence after winning the 2011 Indianapolis 500 in what was the final race of the Centennial Era, a celebration of 100 years of racing at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with driver Dan Wheldon. Five years later, BHA partnered with Andretti Autosport, and defied the odds again, winning their second Indianapolis 500 with rookie driver Alexander Rossi. In 2018, BHA entered the American Sports Car scene beginning its immensely successful partnership with Hyundai. Together, BHA and Hyundai have won four championships in as many seasons, including three consecutive team and driver championships, and two consecutive (2020, 2021) manufacturer’s titles in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge. For more information, visit: www.BryanHertaAutosport.com.

BHA/Hyundai Customer Support: Bryan Herta Autosport is the U.S. sales agent and part support representative of Hyundai TCR and TCA race cars for customer teams. The BHA/Hyundai Customer Support Team offers trackside engineering support, setup and tuning advice, and part and order fulfillments for the Hyundai Veloster N TCR and TCA teams and drivers from the BHA’s headquarters in Speedway, IN. Since its North American debut in 2019, the Hyundai Veloster N TCR has scored 27 race wins, and three TCR championship titles.

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

Hyundai Motor America focuses on ‘Progress for Humanity’ and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs and electrified vehicles. Our 820 dealers sold more than 738,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2021, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com.