What to Watch For: Northeast Grand Prix

July 18, 2019
Staff Report
IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A cozy, 1.474-mile permanent road course
in picturesque northwestern Connecticut awaits the IMSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) and
GT Daytona (GTD) machines as Lime Rock Park hosts this
Saturday’s two-hour and 40-minute Northeast Grand Prix.
It’s the first of two GT-only races on the annual WeatherTech
Championship schedule – the other being the Michelin GT Challenge
at VIRginia International Raceway on Aug. 25 – at the venue which
first hosted racing back in 1957 and has ever since.
Television coverage of the Northeast Grand Prix will air at
9:30 p.m. ET Saturday on NBCSN, with live streaming available
on the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
IMSA Radio also will have live coverage throughout the weekend
on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com, with the race call also airing
on SiriusXM Radio. Tickets for the race are still available
via LimeRock.com.

Here’s what to watch for this weekend:

Heat is On in Championship Races

We’re past the halfway point in the 2019 WeatherTech Championship
season, which means it’s time for the contenders for season-long
championships to make their moves as the summer stretch of
races continues.
In the GTLM class, it’s currently a battle among teammates,
with No. 912 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR co-drivers Earl Bamber
and Laurens Vanthoor – on the strength of three wins in their
last four races – leading No. 911 RSR co-drivers Nick Tandy and
Patrick Pilet by just four points, 186-182. Tandy and Pilet are
winners in two of the last five races.
“After our recent five successive wins, we’re feeling optimistic
but also totally focused,” Vanthoor said. “Our great run can
only continue if we make the absolute best out of the possibilities
once again in the upcoming race. We want to stay at the lead.”
However, it would be a mistake to count out No. 3 Corvette
Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R co-drivers Antonio Garcia and
Jan Magnussen. The two time and defending GTLM champions
are currently third, nine points behind the leaders, and their
remarkable consistency over the past two-and-a-half seasons
would indicate they’re very much still part of the championship
picture.
In the GTD class, No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3
co-drivers Trent Hindman and Mario Farnbacher have a
somewhat more comfortable lead in the WeatherTech
Championship standings, currently sitting 19 points ahead
of No. 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 co-drivers
Frankie Montecalvo and Townsend Bell heading into this weekend.
But the No. 86 squad is as aware as anybody that it’s not over yet.
One “off” weekend and it’s a whole new ballgame.
“We can’t be [conservative],” said Hindman. “Because while we
sit back, other teams are going to be getting even more aggressive.
We need to stay on the front end of the curve. The answer for us
is to keep doing what we’re doing, keep being aggressive, keep
taking chances. Keep it calculated but be aggressive.”
In the race for the inaugural, seven-race IMSA WeatherTech
Sprint Cup – featuring the seven GTD races that are two hours
and 40 minutes or shorter – it’s considerably closer. How close?
Try one point between first and second, and 12 between first
and fifth.
Jack Hawksworth and Richard Heistand, who co-drive the No. 14
AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus, lead the way with 89 points. Patrick
Long is second with 88 points in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports
Porsche 911 GT3 R, followed by Montecalvo and Bell, who are
third in Sprint Cup with 89 points. Farnbacher and Hindman
are fourth with 84 points, with No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche
driver Zacharie Robichon fifth with 77 points.

High-Speed Musical Chairs

The Northeast Grand Prix field has some different drivers in
different places this weekend. In the GTLM class, the big difference
is Marcel Fassler standing-in for Tommy Milner in the No. 4
Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R alongside Oliver Gavin.
Fassler is in for Milner – who injured his left hand in an early
crash in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen – for the second
consecutive race.
“Lime Rock is another track where I haven’t raced before,” Fassler
said. “It’s a different type track than any other at which I’ve
competed. Things will happen very quickly on such a short lap,
so this will be another new challenge.”
The GTD class is where the majority of differences will be seen.
Robichon will be joined in the No. 9 Pfaff Porsche at Lime Rock
by Dennis Olsen, a Porsche Young Professional. Another driver
with that distinction, Matt Campbell, is in the No. 91 Porsche
with Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama graduate
Anthony Imperato with Wright Motorsports, which is returning
to WeatherTech Championship competition for the first time
in 2019 this weekend.
Incidentally, Campbell and Olsen will swap rides for the next
WeatherTech Championship race, the IMSA Road Race Showcase
at Road America on Aug. 4.
Other changes include Marco Seefried teaming up with Long in
the No. 73 Porsche in place of regular driver Patrick Lindsey,
and Christina Nielsen reuniting with Katherine Legge in the
No. 57 Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Acura NSX GT3
after sitting out the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented
by Acura at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 7. Bia
Figueiredo took Nielsen’s place at CTMP.

Full-Course Cautions Can Be Rare at Lime Rock

Over the past two years of GT-only WeatherTech Championship
racing at Lime Rock, there only have been seven laps of full-course
caution. All seven of those laps were in the early going of last
year’s Northeast Grand Prix.
Two years ago, all 181 laps were run without a FCY. So, in total,
there have been 352 of a possible 359 laps run at Lime Rock
under green-flag conditions.
With that in mind, pit strategy will be important. It will be
interesting to see how each team attacks it, and don’t be
surprised if two-car teams (which is everybody in GTLM)
adopt different strategies for each car to maximize their
opportunities to win.
“We know the races are won by making smart decisions and
executing the race as best as possible – not necessarily having
the quickest car,” said No. 25 BMW Team RLL M8 GTE driver
Tom Blomqvist. “We’re ready and we’re confident we can
again fight for the podium.”

Southpaws are Scarce, but Good for Racing Action

The 1.474-mile Lime Rock Park circuit has a total of seven turns
and six of them are right. The one and only left – appropriately
dubbed, “The Lefthander” – is Turn 3. The Lefthander is preceded
by the long front straightaway (the “Sam Posey Straight”) and
the sweeping Turn 1-2 complex known as “Big Bend.”
“The Lefthander” is a decent place for passing, especially on
starts and restarts, or in lapped traffic. Immediately after
“The Lefthander” comes “The Righthander” (We see what you
did there, Lime Rock), which leads onto the “No Name Straight.”
At the top of the hill is a slight right turn known as “Uphill”
followed by another sweeping right called “West Bend” and the
last turn leading back onto the “Sam Posey Straight” is yet
another right turn called “Downhill.”
“There aren’t many corners at Lime Rock,” said No. 66 Ford
Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT driver Joey Hand, last year’s
Northeast Grand Prix winner with co-driver Dirk Mueller.
“But at the same time, managing traffic is really important.
That and staying around until the end, putting yourself into
a position to win, are the keys to it. We really like this track.
It’s a fun, different kind of race.”