Mark Hein takes pole position class in Florida

Mark Hein has taken pole position in class for the first round of the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge series at St. Petersburg, Florida.

Hein’s Honda Civic Si set the fastest lap of 1:28.821, beating Todd Buras’ Volkswagen Jetta by half a second.

“I love to race street courses, it’s been kind of my forte forever and my favorite tracks to race on,” Hein said. “Of course, I like racing at St. Pete and this is going to be a lot of fun. I really enjoy the whole weekend, and it’s been a really well-run event.

“It’s the first time I’ve driven the car at this weight, and it’s been a learning experience. It doesn’t stop because it’s heavier than it was before, and it doesn’t have the wing that it was built for because of the new Touring Car rules. There were a couple of times in qualifying I got in hard on the brakes and realized I was locking it up, so I’m still learning how to dial those in. This race is going to be hard on the brakes. It’s going to be a long race, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Row two will consist of Robert Stout’s DG Spec Scion tC and Eric Meyer’s XOWii Racing Mazda RX-8.

Russian Touring Car driver and former WTCC competitor Alexander Lvov will make his WC debut from fifth place in his Honda Civic Si