Local Favorites Defend PC, GTD Class Victories In IMSA WeatherTech Northeast Grand Prix At Lime Rock

A pair of local drivers who won at Lime Rock Park in 2015 hope to repeat in their respective Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes in the IMSA WeatherTech Northeast Grand Prix, Round 8 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Saturday’s two-hour, 40-minute race also will feature the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, and will be televised live on FOX, with the three-hour program beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

Defending PC winner Tom Kimber-Smith of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., returns for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, while Michael Marsal of Bedford, N.Y., is part of a two-car BMW entry for Turner Motorsport of Amesbury, Mass.

Kimber-Smith will be joined by Robert Alon in the No. 52 Professional Security Consultants/Westfield ORECA FLM09. The pair are second in the PC standings, winning at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and scoring podium finishes in five of seven races thus far.

“This is my home race since moving to America two years ago,” Kimber-Smith said. “I think had more fans when I won at Lime Rock last year than I used to have at Silverstone (England). It was great to win there last year, and I’m looking forward to returning to my home track.”

Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande lead the PC standings with 231 points, 14 more than Kimber-Smith and Alon. The drivers of the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA won at Detroit and Watkins Glen, and hold a streak of six consecutive podium finishes. Starworks also fields the No. 88 Popcorn Sutton entry for Mark Kvamme and a to-be-named co-driver.

Jon Bennett and Colin Braun are coming off a class victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in the No. 54 CORE autosport Flex-Box/Composite Resources/Crowdstrike ORECA. They also were PC class winners at Lime Rock in 2012 in ALMS competition. Other PC entries include James French and Kyle Marcelli in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA; Misha Goikhberg and Stephen Simpson in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports entry; and the No. 20 BAR1 Motorsports ORECA of Matt McMurry and Johnny Mowlem.

Marsal returns in the No. 97 Alvarez & Marsal/IHG Rewards Club BMW M6 GT3. Last year, he teamed with Dane Cameron to win GTD in a Turner Motorsport BMW Z4. This weekend, Marsal’s usual co-driver Markus Palttala will make his Lime Rock debut after missing last year’s race.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to Lime Rock,” Marsal said. “It’s my favorite place to race. I’ve been competing there probably 12 years – almost half my life. It’s also the home race for Turner Motorsport, and I’m looking forward to finally get to race with Markus at Lime Rock.”

Turner Motorsport also brings momentum from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where Bret Curtis and Jens Klingmann gave the team its first victory of the season, as well as the first U.S. victory for the BMW M6 GT3. Curtis and Klingmann share the No. 96 Spectra Resources/United Steel/Valspar Paint/IHG Rewards Club entry.

Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan enter the event with a 22-point lead in the GTD standings. The drivers of the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 won the endurance classics at Sebring and Watkins Glen among four podium finishes.

“Lime Rock is a great place,” said Nielsen, who finished third at the circuit last year in an Aston Martin. “It’s a small track, but it requires the driver to be very precise with the throttle and braking. I had a good run there last year, and I’m looking forward to going back with Alessandro in the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari.”

Porsche drivers Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas are second in the GTD standings, trailing the Ferrari drivers 191-169. The co-drivers of the No. 23 Team Seattle/Heart of Racing Porsche GT3 R join Alex Job Racing teammates Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen, drivers of the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche. Joerg Bergmeister, a six-time class winner in ALMS competition at Lime Rock, joins Patrick Lindsey in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche. Also racing for Porsche is Black Swan Racing with the No. 540 for Timothy Pappas and Andy Pilgrim.

Audi’s Andy Lally and John Potter are currently third in the GTD standings with 163 points. The drivers of the Magnus Racing Audi Tire Center/Auric Solar Audi R8 LMS GT3 won the class in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona among three podium finishes. Stevenson Motorsports also fields a pair of contending Audis. Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis are coming off a second-place showing at CTMP in the No. 6 Stevenson Auto Group Audi R8 LMS GT3, with the team also fielding the No. 9 Audi for Matt Bell and Lawson Aschenbach.

Another manufacturer with momentum on its side is Lamborghini, making its Lime Rock debut. Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers gave the marque its first podium finish in WeatherTech Championship competition at CTMP, taking third in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3. Other Lamborghinis include the No. 16 Change Racing entry with Corey Lewis and Spencer Pumpelly, as well as Dream Racing’s No. 27 with Lawrence DeGeorge and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli.

Second at Lime Rock in 2015, Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen won at Detroit in the No. 33 Riley Motorsports ViperExchange.com/Cruising with the Monkey Dodge Viper GT3-R, and are fourth in the standings.

Practice for the IMSA WeatherTech Northeast Grand Prix begins at 11:10 a.m. ET on Friday, July 22, with qualifying at 4:30 p.m. The weekend also includes the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, racing on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET.

Contact:

nsiebens@imsa.com

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