Top qualifier Tuerck scored 94.6 points thanks in part to a high X factor. Currently sitting 11th in the 2023 FD PRO Championship, despite also qualifying first at the opening Long Beach round, FD Orlando could initiate the launch of the GR Corolla driver’s title chase.
Second place DeNofa narrowly missed the top spot with a 94-point run. Another consistent title chaser, he currently sits 10th.
With a score of 93.6 points, Taguchi missed out on the top spot by a single point, highlighting the close competition between the top drivers. In fact, 18 drivers scored within ten points of Tuerck.
Championship leader Matt Field (USA) placed a rather disappointing 16th in the Borla Performance / GT Radial Corvette, scoring 87 points.
Reigning Champion Fredric Aasbo (Norway) scored 91.6 points in the Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra and qualified fifth.
The leading Rookie qualifier was Diego Higa (Brazil). He placed 27th overall after scoring 84 points on his second run in KQF in his Toyota GT86.
Knockout Qualifying Format (KQF) sees the top 24 drivers automatically qualify, with the remainder required to run a second time, including anybody who failed to complete their first run. And with 35 drivers again competing for 32 competition places, three would be eliminated from KQF.
After their second runs, the eliminated drivers were Joao Barion (Brazil), Kyle Mohan (USA) and Ola Jaeger (Norway).