Round Three of the 2004 American Le Mans Series season will be the New England Grand Prix at historic Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. The race marks the first-ever appearance of the ALMS at Lime Rock and in the Northeastern United States.
The timed event of two hours, 45 minutes will be held on Monday, July 5, a national holiday in the United States. Practice and qualifying will be held on Saturday, July 3, while there will be no track activity on Sunday due to local ordinances.
· This weekend's event at Lime Rock Park will be the 50th American Le Mans Series race held since the formation of the series in 1999. Nineteen (19) drivers who competed in the inaugural ALMS race in 1999 at the 12 Hours of Sebring are entered at Lime Rock including Terry Borcheller, David Brabham, Kelly Collins, Duncan Dayton, Ron Fellows, Jon Field, Leo Hindery, Darren Law, JJ Lehto, Butch Leitzinger, Jim Matthews, Johnny Mowlem, David Murry, Johnny O'Connell, Craig Stanton, Johannes van Overbeek, Cort Wagner, Andy Wallace and James Weaver. Lehto was part of the winning driver team at Sebring in 1999. Lucas Luhr is joining the BAM! team with Hindery at Lime Rock with Peter Baron, who also raced in the first event at Sebring in 1999, focusing on team operations.
Dorsey Schroeder, now serving as the SPEED Channel analyst, also competed in the first ALMS race at Sebring (1999).
· Lime Rock Park becomes the 18th different venue to host an ALMS event since the formation of the series in 1999.
· Though it is only 1.54 miles in length, Lime Rock Park is not the smallest track to host an ALMS event. The Miami street circuit was only 1.15 miles, while Trois-Rivieres was 1.521 miles.
· Darren Law (GT) and Robin Liddell (LMP2) became first-time race winners in ALMS competition with their class wins at Mid-Ohio. Law, driver for the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche team, took his first ALMS win in his 15th career start. Liddell's first win came in his 12th career start but his first in a Prototype as he drove Intersport Racing's Lola B2K/40-Judd.
· With their GTS class win at Mid-Ohio, Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell tied Lucas Luhr for second on the ALMS all-time wins list at 18. Sascha Maassen, who will not compete at Lime Rock, continues as the leader with 21 wins.
Lime Rock Park-Related
· Although this is the first ALMS visit to historic Lime Rock Park, many current ALMS drivers have competed on the track in other series. Seven ALMS drivers in the field this week have previously posted Lime Rock Park victories in other series including Terry Borcheller (2001 GARRA GT, 2000 GARRA GTO, 2000 World Challenge GT), David Brabham (1998 IMSA GT1), Ron Fellows (1992 Trans-Am), Butch Leitzinger (2001 GARRA SRP, 2000 GARRA SR, 1998 IMSA WSC, 1996 NASCAR Grand National North, 1995 NASCAR Grand National North, 1994 NASCAR Grand National North, 1991 IMSA International Sedan), David Murry (1995 World Challenge Sports, two 1985 Pro Sports/Renault wins), Andy Wallace (1998 IMSA GT1), James Weaver (2001 GARRA SRP, 2000 GARRA SR, 1998 IMSA WSC).
· Four ALMS drivers entered this weekend have previously won pole positions at Lime Rock in other series: Terry Borcheller (1998 World Challenge T1), Ron Fellows (1993 and 1995 Trans-Ams), Butch Leitzinger (1998 IMSA WSC, 1992 IMSA GTU, 1988 Firehawk GS), James Weaver (2000 GARRA SR, 1999 USRRC Can-Am, 1997 IMSA WSC, 1996 IMSA WSC)
· Current ALMS drivers who have competed at Lime Rock in other forms of racing, but have never won a professional race or a pole, include Chris Dyson, Clint and Jon Field, Leo Hindery, Ralf Kelleners, Darren Law, Jim Matthews, Scott Maxwell, Johnny O'Connell, Craig Stanton, Johannes Van Overbeek and Cort Wagner.
· ALMS LMP1 point leaders JJ Lehto and Marco Werner will each be racing at Lime Rock for the first time in any form of racing as will GT class leader Timo Bernhard.
· Corvette's third-place overall finish at Mid-Ohio tied an ALMS record for the highest finish by a GTS car in a race. The original record was set by an ORECA Viper in 2000 at Adelaide.
· Three ALMS teams come to Lime Rock Park boasting class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including Clint Field in LMP2, who won in his first Le Mans experience for Intersport at the age of 21.
Corvette reclaimed its Le Mans championship pedigree with a 1-2 finish over the defending Ferrari GTS champions, and the Petersen-White Lightning Porsche swept to a GT class victory.
The three-class winning performances by ALMS teams marks the sixth consecutive season in which a team that races regularly in the ALMS has notched a victory at Le Mans. Corvette has three Le Mans GTS titles (2001, 2002, 2004), and the Petersen team won for the second straight year in GT.
· Two new types of race cars will continue their ALMS campaigns at Lime Rock Park, including the Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT (GTS class) and the Panoz Esperante GT-LM (GT class). The Lamborghini driven by David Brabham and Peter Kox finished a strong fourth in class at Mid-Ohio, while the Panoz Experante ran as high as second and set the fastest race lap before being damaged in an accident.
· Audi's carries its ALMS record 16-race LMP1 win streak into round #3 at Lime Rock. Audi won at Sebring and Mid-Ohio to extend its record.
· At Lime Rock Porsche hopes to extend its all-time mark for the most ALMS poles (42) and all-time victories (42). Porsche carries a 21-race GT win streak into Lime Rock, a run that started at Sebring in 2002.
In pole positions, Audi is second (34) with Corvette and Lola/MG next with 19.
Among all-time manufacturer winners, Audi is second with 34 and Corvette has 24.
· With starts in ALMS round #2 (Mid-Ohio), David Brabham and Johnny O'Connell tied Jan Magnussen for the most ALMS career starts at 46. Magnussen is racing for Corvette Racing in 2004 but only at Sebring, Le Mans and Petit Le Mans. After Mid-Ohio, Ron Fellows and JJ Lehto also climbed into a fifth place tie with Frank Biela (41) and just one behind Sascha Maassen's fourth place slot (42).
With six events in the next eight weeks, O'Connell, Brabham, Fellows and Lehto have a chance to rewrite a number of ALMS all-time marks.
· With his win in a Porsche in the GT class at Mid-Ohio, Johannes Van Overbeek became the 11th ALMS driver to have won races for two (2) different marques. His previous win in 1999 was in a BMW. Seven of those 11 drivers are entered at Lime Rock:
Oliver Gavin (Saleen & Corvette)
JJ Lehto (BMW & Audi)
Johnny O'Connell (Panoz & Corvette)
Andy Wallace (Panoz & Lola)
David Brabham (Panoz & Ferrari)
Kelly Collins (Porsche & Corvette)
Johannes Van Overbeek (BMW & Porsche)
David Brabham (Lamborghini) and Kelly Collins (Panoz) could become the first drivers in ALMS history to win races for THREE different makes of car if they win at Lime Rock.
· Johannes Van Overbeek's GT class win at Mid-Ohio was only his second victory in ALMS competition and his first since winning the GT class in a BMW in April of 1999 at Road Atlanta.
· Ryan Eversley, 20, of Winder, GA, will be making his second career ALMS start at Lime Rock in his Lola B2K/40-Millington for Race Car Company. Eversley has previously worked as a mechanic for Archangel Motorsports and JML Team Panoz, and has driven open-wheel cars as well as Grand-Am Cup.
· Sascha Maassen's streak of 40 consecutive ALMS starts, the longest active streak in the ALMS, ended last week at Mid-Ohio as the two-time ALMS GT champion was not entered. Maassen and long-time teammate Lucas Luhr will run selected races this season with both the Alex Job Racing and BAM! teams. Luhr is scheduled to compete with Leo Hindery in the BAM Porsche at Lime Rock.
· David Brabham's impressive Lamborghini GTS drive at Mid-Ohio marked his second ALMS start in 2004, and in two different cars. Brabham joined Johnny Mowlem and Terry Borcheller in a Saleen at Sebring in March and now teams with Peter Kox, in the new Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT.
In ALMS round #2 at Mid-Ohio last week, the Saleen driven by Johnny Mowlem made a late race GTS charge to nip Kox's Lamborgini for third place and a podium spot. The GTS tussle between Corvette, Saleen and Lamborghini continues at Lime Rock Park.
ALMS ALL-TIME COMPETITION 'BY-THE-NUMBERS'
· 49 all-time races
· 606 drivers have starts at least one ALMS race
· 95 different drivers have won races
· 218 drivers have at least one top three finish
· 328 drivers have at least one top five finish
· 499 drivers have at least one top 10 finish
· 41 different drivers have won at least one pole (fast qualifier)
· 51 different drivers have posted fast laps in an ALMS event.
