Westbrook, Briscoe Win First WeatherTech Championship Race of Season in No. 67 Ford GT at Lime Rock Park Pfaff Motorsports Steals First IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Victory with Photo Finish at Lime Rock Park

July 20, 2019
Staff Report
IMSA Wire Service

LAKEVILLE, Conn. –

You could anticipate it coming for quite some time, but it wasn’t
until Richard Westbrook finally positioned his No. 67 Ford GT to
the inside of Earl Bamber’s No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR with six
minutes and 32 seconds remaining in the Northeast Grand Prix
that it was decided.
With that move, Westbrook secured what would be the first
IMSA WeatherTech Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory
of the season for himself and his Ford Chip Ganassi Racing
co-driver, Ryan Briscoe, on Saturday afternoon at Lime Rock Park.
“I had to pick my moment,” Westbrook said. “There was a lot of
marbles off-line. I just got it right. It was just an amazing race to
be part of, fighting with two Porsches and my teammate, it was
really close out there. I just had to be patient with the 912 and when
the opportunity came, it was a matter of taking it.”
The opportunity came largely as a result of the team’s three-stop
pit strategy for the two-hour, 40-minute race under sweltering
midsummer heat in New England. Whereas the pair of Porsche
GT Team entries led most of the race – combining to lead 140 of
the race’s 182 laps around the 1.474-mile circuit – Westbrook’s
fresher tires coming down the stretch paid huge dividends.
“This place is just so tough,” said Briscoe, who makes his home
in nearby Hartford, Connecticut. “We didn’t think we’d have the
pace, so we went into the race with the goal of doing a three-stop
strategy. We knew the tire life on two stops was going to be really
difficult for everyone, so we just committed to it and knew we
had to put the lap times in on fresh tires when everyone else
was falling off and it worked out.
“It’s really great, especially, to do it here at Lime Rock. I’ve got a
lot of friends here, a lot of family and it’s special to stand on the
podium in front of all of them.”
It was the 18th career IMSA victory for Briscoe and Westbrook’s
15th. Their most recent victory prior to Saturday came last August
at Road America.
After taking the lead from Bamber, Westbrook quickly pulled
away. He went on to win by 7.003 seconds, snapping the Porsche
GT Team’s five-race win streak in the process.
“It’s tough to beat a Porsche this year,” Westbrook said. “So, I think
we can all give ourselves a pat on the back.”
Bamber and co-driver Laurens Vanthoor wound up second for
their fifth podium result in seven races in 2019. They extended
their lead in the WeatherTech Championship GTLM standings
to eight points, 218-210, over their No. 911 Porsche teammates,
Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet.
No. 66 Ford GT co-drivers Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller made it
a double podium for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing with a third
place showing. Hand and Mueller won last year’s race at Lime Rock.
Tandy and Pilet came home fourth in the No. 911 ahead of No. 3
Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R co-drivers Jan Magnussen
and Antonio Garcia, who finished fifth.
Next up for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is
the IMSA Road Race Showcase at Road America on Sunday, Aug. 4.
The race will be televised at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Live streaming of the race will be available on the NBC Sports
App and NBCSports.com beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio
also will have live coverage throughout the weekend on 
IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com with live race coverage airing
on SiriusXM Radio.
Tickets are available now at RoadAmerica.com.

Pfaff Motorsports Steals First IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship GTD Victory with Photo Finish at Lime Rock Park

If anyone was shocked at the results of Saturday’s IMSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Northeast Grand Prix at
Lime Rock Park, no one would be more so than GT Daytona (GTD)
class winners Pfaff Motorsports.
The No. 9 Porsche 911 GT3 R shared by co-drivers Zach Robichon
and Dennis Olsen ran in the top five for the early half of the race
after Robichon qualified the car fourth. The car then moved up
into second place for nearly 80 laps, with Olsen keep the leading
No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 of Mario Farnbacher
within a second of his sights.
With five minutes remaining, the perfect opportunity presented
itself for Olsen. Two lapped cars blocked the paths of both drivers,
with Farnbacher in the outside lane and Olsen on the inside. As
luck would have it – which Pfaff hasn’t had much of this season – the
inside lane opened up as the two dove into a corner and Olsen
capitalized, sliding by and in front for the lead.
The drama wasn’t done yet, however. A tire puncture slowed Olsen
on the final lap, allowing Farnbacher to reel him back in. it was
a drag race on the front straightaway to the checkered flag, which
Olsen nipped by a mere .010 seconds.
“It was pretty tight, all of the moves,” said Olsen. “The last one was
just the Acura got held up by a bit of traffic in the front, I don’t
know what was going on. I just prepared myself to get around
and gambled to go between and it worked out. I think it was
a millimeter on each side, but it worked out.”
With the win coming, literally, in the blink of an eye, Robichon
was stunned as he reflected on his first WeatherTech Championship
victory.
“I mean it was pretty stressful, definitely,” said Robichon. “Dennis
did such a great job. Usually I’m not at a loss of words like this.
He did a great job. He was aggressive when he needed to be, but
didn’t take any unnecessary risks and I think with the traffic it
all played out perfect. He didn’t put a wheel wrong…He did a
great job to stay in the lead and definitely well-deserved from
the Pfaff Motorsports crew.”
Farnbacher and co-driver Trent Hindman’s runner-up result
still benefited the duo in the championship standings. Following
their fourth consecutive podium finish, they expanded their lead
to 183-153 over the winners from the series’ most recent race
at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park two weeks ago, Bill Auberlen
and Robby Foley in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.
Auberlen and Foley rounded out the podium at Lime Rock Park
with their third top-three in as many races.
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