Lime Rock Park Race Weekend Recap
Lime Rock Park (LRP) is a 1.5 mile picturesque track nestled in the rolling hills of Salisbury Connecticut, which is Chamber of Commerce speak for “in the middle of nowhere. For years I attended the Grand-Am Memorial Day weekend at LRP where the Continental Tire series raced on Saturday and Grand-Am raced on Monday because LRP does not allow for Sunday racing.
No Sunday racing seems to be a contradiction in terms. Sunday means racing for many tracks and many series, and with 2017 being the 60th year LRP has hosted racing, that’s a long time to keep Sunday’s quiet. LRP would hold a historic car show on Sunday which was enjoyable and attended by many who were camping at LRP for the weekend.
Not only is there no racing on Sunday, but Grand-Am teams were restricted from having any track time at all. Time marches on and LRP Memorial Day weekend is now home to the Pirelli World Challenge series.
This past weekend the racing schedule was very full since track activities only held on Friday and Saturday.
The racing included Continental tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSC) classes GS (Grand Sport) and ST (Street Turner). The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship brought three classes: PC (Prototype Challenge), GTLM (GT Le Mans) and GTD (GT Daytona). Noticeably absent was the P (Prototype) from the schedule. Also on the track was the local Lime Rock Park Driver’s Club MX-5 Series. (To find out more about the different classes, please visit: http://sportscarchampionship.imsa.com/discover-sportscar-championship/classes)
Did you know that Lime Rock Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Litchfield County Connecticut? The track is owned by Skip Barber and many current and past IMSA drivers got their start at the LRP Skip Barber Racing School.
Before I dig into the racing weekend, let’s spend a little time with Starworks Motorsport driver Jose Gutierrez where I chatted with him at Lime Rock Park. Jose raced 2015 in the Pro Mazda Championship series with the Juncos Racing team and currently racing IMSA in the Prototype Challenge class.
Jose was born and currently lives in Monterrey, Mexico.
Favorite Food: Tacos (no surprise)
Favorite Music: Calvin Harris (DJ)
Favorite track raced and in what car? Sebring International Raceway in the PC car
Track on bucket list to race and in what car/series? 24 hours of Le Mans in a LMP2 car
If you could spend the afternoon with anyone who would it be and what would you do? Ayrton Senna and racing go-karts!
What are the differences between Pro Mazda and PC? Which do you like best and why? Jose mentioned there is more traffic with PC class in IMSA series compared to his racing days of Pro Mazda. More cars means having a tighter strategy to handle the slower cars on the track. With PC he has longer driving stints and more time on the track is always good. Jose does like the driver change concept and working together with his co-driver on a “team sport”.
At Lime Rock Park, Jose’s co-driver was Sean Rayhall. Jose qualified the car and started the race from the 4th position, but at lap 100 with Jose driving the car lost the clutch and was out.
To learn more about Jose or Starworks Motorsport please check them out on Twitter or website: http://starworksmotorsport.com/ @starworksmotor @JoeGtzJ
Highlights of the racing weekend included the driving team of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner getting the #4 car the Corvette Racing team their 100th win. Corvette Racing also took the 2nd step on the podium with drivers Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia.
If you have ever been to LRP or watched the race, during both races CTSC and IMSA, cars tend to take turn 3 a bit wide and “kick up the dust". This makes for exciting racing and intense battles as the cars resume the racing line after a quick “off”. The battle between Oliver Gavin #4 Corvette Racing and Giancarlo Fisichella #62 Risi Competizone Ferrari was one to watch at turn 3 as the dust flew.
With LRP only being 1.5 miles and the race being over 2 hours in time, the cars go around the track about 170 times meaning at some point you are going to pass or deal with a car you might have had an issue with just a few laps before. LRP has been given the nickname the “Bull Ring” for some of the fierce battles fought.
Also very enjoyable was the racing of Andy Lally who got the win with John Potter for Magnus Racing in the GTD class. Andy received the “Ah” moment of the day when hugging his mom right before the podium celebration.
Since the last time I was at LRP, the track had made some improvements in preparation for the “Road to 60” event marking the 60th year of the track in 2017. According to the website, LRP was spending millions to build a better fan experience.
The paddock was nicely paved with a pedestrian walkway area which no one used. The women’s restroom was much improved with doors that closed and locked and working sinks. I can’t speak to the men’s restroom.
With the recent dry weather conditions in the area, the blooming and flowering landscape was a very nice surprise. That’s where the improvements stopped. LRP, like many tracks only care about getting fans into the track, you are on your own to leave.
Apparently no money was budgeted for how fans would leave. Since there was no one, not one person anywhere, directing traffic, people are left to their own silliness and a mess evolved. Cars were trying to come in the exit, which left one lane heading out.
Needless to say, I made it out of the track and to my flight the next day and home from another fun race weekend.
Thank you all for reading and I welcome your comments. I have no affiliation with CTSC, IMSA, or Lime Rock Park, etc. just a fan. There are many blogs and websites where you will find statistics, results, and scoring from the race; this is “just the way I see it”.
Got a response? Let me hear it! Please Follow and tweet me @viclovesracing
And look for future “Vickie’s Trackside Report” coming to a track near you!
