Lime Rock to Host First GT Showdown of WeatherTech Championship Season
24 Cars Entered for Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park on July 22
As the summer stretch continues for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, two of its four classes will take to the track next weekend at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. The GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes are set to be featured in the first of two GT-only showdowns in 2017 at next weekend’s Northeast Grand Prix on Saturday, July 22.
The Northeast Grand Prix will be broadcast live flag-to-flag on FS2 starting at 3 p.m. ET, as well as on the FOX Sports GO app with FS2 authentication. Audio commentary also will be available on IMSA Radio via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio.
The 1.5-mile circuit will host the third race in four weeks for the GTLM and GTD classes. Both classes have seen dramatic shifts in championship battles with just five races remaining.
In GTLM, BMW Team RLL will look to continue its hot streak with Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sims going for their third consecutive win in the No. 25 BMW M6 GTLM. The team’s No. 24 entry of John Edwards and Martin Tomczyk finished second in the most recent race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to make it a 1-2 sweep for BMW and are looking to break into the win column after podiums in two of the last three races.
Corvette Racing brings its two Corvette C7.Rs to Lime Rock Park with Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin returning as defending race winners in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen hold onto a narrow three-point lead entering the event weekend in the team’s No. 3 entry.
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing enters the weekend with the No. 66 and No. 67 Ford GTs sitting third and fourth, respectively, in the series standings while the Porsche GT Team looks for its first win of the season with its pair of Porsche 911 RSRs.
In the GTD class, points leaders Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen will look to stand atop the podium for the first time this season in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 after recording six straight podium finishes this year without a victory. They hold an eight-point lead, 203-195, over the No. 33 Riley Motorsports-Team AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating.
Reappearing on the entry list for the fourth time this season and the first time outside of a Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup race is Alex Job Racing in the No. 23 Audi R8 LMS GT3 to be piloted by Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell. Jesse Krohn has been added to the lineup of Turner Motorsport’s No. 96 BMW M6 GT3, along with Jens Klingmann, after last appearing at the Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida in March. Another addition to the entry list is that of James Davison and Brandon Davis in TRG’s No. 007 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. This is the first GTD race of the year for both drivers.
Practice for the Northeast Grand Prix kicks off on Friday, July 21 at 12:05 p.m. ET, followed by another hour-long practice session at 2:25 p.m. and qualifying at 5:15 p.m. Also on the docket for Friday is a pair of practice sessions for the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda. The Continental Tire Challenge qualifies on Friday at 3:40 p.m. ahead of Saturday’s race scheduled for 10:25 a.m. The lone Prototype Challenge race will take place on Saturday at 12:45 p.m.
WeatherTech Championship qualifying and all of the weekend’s races at Lime Rock Park will be streamed live on IMSA.com with IMSA Radio commentary.
Tickets for the Northeast Grand Prix are available now at LimeRock.com.
