Category: IMSA

LAKEVILLE, Conn. (July 22, 2023) – After a series of strong races where the Wright Motorsports No. 77 VOLT Lighting Porsche 911 GT3 R narrowly missed finishing inside the top five of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Ohio-based team celebrated their first podium result of the 2023 season Saturday afternoon at Lime Rock Park. The satisfying success capped off a strong performance in the Northeast Grand Prix where the black and yellow Porsche, driven by Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman, drove from 15th place to third.

“At long last the consistency in excellence for the VOLT group is rewarded with a podium finish,” said Team Owner John Wright. “The team has been flawless all year, and today, the race played perfectly into our hands. I’m very proud of this team and the great job they’ve put in. They never give up and today they were rewarded for it. I’m very proud of each and every one of them!”

Alan Brynjolfsson started Saturday’s race under sunny skies and warm temperatures from 14th out of 15 cars. Though at the rear of the field, the VOLT driver remained focused and motivated to fight for a strong result in the Wright Motorsports Porsche. The drop of the green flag started his 40-minute-long battle with Sheena Monk as the pair raced side-by-side for position. Though the Acura had a slower pace over the lap, the 1.474-mile course of Lime Rock Park provided little room to pass. Not deterred by the lack of opportunity, Brynjolfsson kept pressure on Monk for the entirety of the stint, keeping fans at Lime Rock Park on the edge of their seats.

A full-course caution brought an end to the fight, and with his minimum drive time required completed, Brynjolfsson pitted for a full-service stop. With a new set of tires and a full tank of fuel, Hindman took over, with just under two hours remaining in the sprint race. Once again, the Wright Motorsports crew in pit lane took full advantage of the chance to gain position with their efficient pit stops. Hindman rejoined the race in 11th. Extracting the most out of the Porsche 911 GT3 R and the new Michelin rubber, Hindman methodically worked his way through the field, taking advantage of passing opportunities, as well as the attrition of others. With just over one hour remaining, he pitted for the team’s final stop, coming in from sixth place.

A perfectly timed full-course caution appeared after Hindman rejoined the race, allowing the team to pull ahead while the rest of the field pitted for service. He rejoined near the front of the field, finding himself in third place with 57 minutes remaining. He put heavy pressure on the No. 92 of Julien Andlauer, who was also close to the class leader, the No. 27 of Marco Sorensen. The three cars battled nose-to-tail for the remainder of their stint, demonstrating impressive race craft for the fans all over Lime Rock Park. In the end, they maintained position, and Hindman finished third. Not only was the positive result the first podium for the Wright Motorsports VOLT Porsche, but the third-place finish also marked the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium for Brynjolfsson.

The third-place finish unofficially moves the group up from eighth place to fifth place in the championship standings with four rounds remaining in the 2023 championship. The series will next head to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend, another two-hour, 40-minute sprint race, August 4-6.

Alan Brynjolfsson

You never forget your first. This is my first WeatherTech podium. It’s great to be back on the podium. I used to be a regular here in Michelin Pilot Challenge. We had a little bit of a dry spell, but we’ve broken that today. The crew had an awesome performance today. This was a total team effort. I’m especially proud of Trent, bringing it from last up to the podium. Great job by Trent and the team.

Trent Hindman

I am so excited and happy. It’s Alan’s first GTD class podium, it’s been a long time coming. It’s super well deserved. The Wright Motorsports guys gave us a phenomenal car this weekend. Lime Rock is a hard place to pass. You have to have a perfect strategy and some impressive skills in the pit box. We were able to make a few passes on the track, but it was all the work from the group in pit lane. We want to keep this momentum rolling. Big thanks to the guys. This was a great result today.

Wright Motorsports

Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series and international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy, and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013, and 2015, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team, and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship. In 2021, Wright Motorsports had a wildly successful season, capturing nine championships across their five racing efforts.

About VOLT® Lighting

Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, VOLT® Lighting manufactures and distributes quality indoor and outdoor lighting products and systems. VOLT® is the largest manufacturer of professional landscape lighting in the world. For more information, visit www.voltlighting.com or contact the company at customersupport@voltlighting.com or 813-978-3700.

About Adelie Technik

Founded in 2011 Adelie Technik, a Service Disabled Veteran Small Owned Business (SDVOB) deploys the highest caliber engineers and consultants for our customers needs. Adelie is focused on delivery of your solution to your customer on your schedule. Adelie can deliver solutions ranging from PC deployment up to full DataCentre builds and beyond. Our engineers can also migrate your environment to the cloud. For more information on Adelie Technik, see adelietechnik.com.

We represent the highest quality in racing safety with the intention of maintain our position at the top. With 50 years in the industry, Sabelt is the world’s premier safety equipment manufacturer. A result of intense research and development.

Lakeville, Conn. (22 July 2023) – A fast Friday at Lime Rock Park saw the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin set a new track record as Ross Gunn posted a 50.593-second flier on the 1.47-mile circuit to score pole position for Saturday’s GT-only IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race (USA Network live at 12:00 PM ET).

After an incident at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park left the previous chassis undriveable, the Heart of Racing squad were able to prepare a brand-new chassis for the Lime Rock Park round. That hard work paid immediate dividends as Gunn and co-driver Alex Riberas posted the third fastest lap of the opening practice session and backed that up with the fifth quickest time in the final practice.

The team made the strategic call to hold Gunn in the pit box as the qualifying session went green, looking to match the timing to find some open track to go along with the improving track conditions. Gunn made the most of it, netting the fast time on his sixth lap before returning to pit lane to collect the first Motul Pole Award of the season for the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin.

“It’s super to be on pole, especially at a track like this where it’s very tricky to pass,” said Gunn. “Not only that, but we have had some bad luck over the course of the season. It’s nice to be able to reward the guys after what happened at Mosport, they had a really quick turnaround to get the new chassis here and they’ve done an amazing job. To be honest I owe all of it to them because they’re the guys that do the long hours and we’re the lucky ones that get to drive. This qualifying session was a bit unexpected. We were struggling a bit in practice for overall pace, but we made a couple of setup changes before that really worked well. I left it all out on the track and was really happy with it.”

The No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin team with Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorensen secured a fourth place starting position in GTD competition. After fighting to find the ideal setup in both of Friday’s practice sessions, De Angelis qualified the Aston Martin with a 51.283-second lap. The Canadian ace has a remarkable record of success at the diminutive Connecticut circuit, and will look to translate the strong qualifying effort into a return to the Lime Rock Park podium on Saturday.

“I don’t think we optimized our qualifying session,” said De Angelis. “We tried a bunch of different setups throughout the weekend and put something together for qualifying that worked really well. I don’t think I adapted quickly enough to the new setup. We will start fourth in class tomorrow, so not too bad, but it should make for an interesting race tomorrow. We know the Aston is quick with Ross scoring pole, so we will see what happens.”

The FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix presented by Liqui Moly will take the green flag at 12:10pm ET on Saturday with live coverage on USA Network starting at noon ET.

About The Heart of Racing

The Heart of Racing races to raise funds and awareness for Seattle Children’s Cardiology Research. The team competes internationally with concurrent campaigns in IMSA, SRO, Formula Drift and the 24H SERIES. Last season The Heart of Racing won the IMSA GTD Championship title in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The Heart of Racing team hosted their first all-female driver shootout in November of 2022, bringing to the team Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt for the 2023 SRO GT4 America season. To contribute to The Heart of Racing’s fundraising efforts please visit: https://give.seattlechildrens.org/fundraiser/3642390

LAKEVILLE, Connecticut – Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams WeatherTech Racing, Team Korthoff Motorsports and Winward Racing compete in the first of this year’s two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring (GT) feature races this weekend in the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, July 21 – 22. Featuring the GT Daytona (GTD) and GTD Pro classes, Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix can be viewed live on the USA Network at Noon EDT, with free live streaming coverage available for international viewers at IMSA.com. The Northeast Grand Prix joins next month’s event at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) as the only GT feature races on the IMSA schedule.

Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3 team have been battling for the GTD Pro driver and team championships all year and look forward to continuing the fight on the 1.4-mile Lime Rock “bullring,” which is the shortest track on the IMSA circuit. WeatherTech has a class-leading two race wins this year at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The No. 79 team and drivers have led or ranked second in the GTD Pro points standings all season and narrowed the gap to the current leaders with a third-place finish one race ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). Heading into Lime Rock, the No. 79 team and drivers are second in the GTD Pro championships with 2,014 points, 96 points shy of the current class leaders.
WeatherTech’s success has also singlehandedly moved Mercedes-AMG into the GTD Pro manufacturer championship picture this season with the same points differential to the first-place competitor as the team and driver title races.

WeatherTech was one of two Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams reaching the podium at CTMP. In GTD competition, the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 team and co-drivers Mikael Grenier and Mike Skeen broke through for their first podium of the season with a third-place finish. Korthoff was also competitive and in line for a podium result last year at Lime Rock only to be just edged at the line to place fourth in a frenzied finish.

The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 team and co-drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis are next in line at Lime Rock Park to have a change of fortune after a challenging season to date. Ellis was running in second place two weeks ago at CTMP only to be forced to pit late in the race with a cut tire.

Winward is also determined to avenge another late misfortune in last year’s Lime Rock race when Ellis took the white flag in the lead only to slow with a mechanical issue with the checkered flag in sight. Despite the disappointments, Winward’s pace and performance at both CTMP and Lime Rock last year bode well for an overdue strong race result Saturday.

The Northeast Grand Prix is bookended by a pair of IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge series sprint races that will see Murillo Racing and team driver Tim Probert carry the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing flag.

The new-for-2023 VP Racing series runs consecutive races for the first time following a return to competition two weeks ago at CTMP after being idle since March. Unlike the multiple driver WeatherTech Championship, the VP Challenge is a single-driver series featuring 45-minute sprints and no scheduled pit stops.

Longtime Murillo Racing driver Probert drives the team’s No. 65 Mercedes-AMG GT4 and showed no rust from the four-month break with a Bronze Cup class victory and top-five overall finish in the opening race at CTMP.
The overall fifth-place finish was the best for Probert since placing fourth in the second race of the debut VP Racing weekend at Daytona last January.

A literal twist for some of the Mercedes-AMG Motorsports customer teams and drivers and their competitors this weekend will be the use of Lime Rock’s chicane just before the track’s uphill section that leads to the fast run down to the front straight. The chicane has traditionally been used for the WeatherTech series and will also be in place for all VP Racing series on-track sessions this weekend.

A tight, two-day event weekend, on-track action at Lime Rock gets underway Friday with morning and afternoon practice sessions for all series to set the stage for VP Racing qualifying at 4:20 p.m. EDT and GTD/GTD Pro qualifying at 5:40 p.m. EDT.

Saturday’s first on-track activity is the opening VP Racing sprint at 9:05 a.m. EDT. The featured FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix goes green at 12:10 p.m. EDT for a two-hour and 40-minute race that will be followed by the final VP race at 3:05 p.m. EDT.

Daniel Juncadella, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I really like Lime Rock. It is short and pretty cool. I had my first experience there in Formula BMW where I won my first international race. So, I have very good memories of Lime Rock. It is a different layout with the chicane going up the hill. I think the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 will be good around that short track. We have a little more horsepower, so we will focus on the set-up and our strategy. Having a GT3 only weekend is always fun. Going for an overall win and not having to deal with the prototypes makes it a little more competitive.”

Jules Gounon, Driver – No. 79 WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I really like the track, which I ran for the first-time racing with Cooper MacNeil last year. There are a lot of fans that surround the track on the outside and inside, so it gives a feel like you are racing in an arena. I don’t know of any other track that is this short. Since it is GT only, Lime Rock and VIR are our only chances during the season to take an overall win without the prototype cars on the track. That’s the goal this weekend!”

Mike Skeen, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “There is always loads of effort put in and lots of performance and passion to achieve great results, but we haven’t always been able to get all of the right pieces to fall into place. Some of that is luck, but to get that monkey off our back and get a podium builds some confidence and proves that we can do it and that we deserve to be up there. Hopefully we can take the next few steps to get a win out of it. Lime Rock suits the Mercedes-AMG GT4 really well. It has lots of high-speed, fast sweepers, which are good for the car, and we did really well there last year and felt we had a really good car. We felt like we were certainly going to be on the podium and potentially challenge for the win but not everything fell into place. Going back there I feel like we have pretty high potential for being up front again.”

Tim Probert, Driver – No. 65 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “I really like Lime Rock. It’s going to be a little different for us this year because we have always run the full course, but we are going to use the chicane this year. I think we are all scrambling a little bit to figure out what that means to us in terms of car setup and how we make sure we are quick there. I have been to Lime Rock many times, originally through MX5 Cup for about 10 seasons and then about 10 seasons or thereabouts in IMSA Pilot Challenge. Been there, a lot, plenty of seat time, but the first time running the chicane. It’s going to be interesting, but our Mercedes-AMG GT4 loves to corner so it might help.”

No. 3 C8.R team will try to go back-to-back after class win in Canada

DETROIT (July 18, 2023) – Long tracks and short tracks… Corvette Racing has won at them both. It’s the latter that’s next on the team’s calendar as the longest-running sports car racing program in North America heads to Lime Rock Park for Saturday’s FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix presented by Liqui Moly.

The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor will look for back-to-back victories this weekend, having won the last time out at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park two weeks ago. As was the case then – and at most stops on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule – Corvette Racing owns a stellar record at Lime Rock.

With six victories at the 1.474-mile, seven-turn road course in northwestern Connecticut, no team in IMSA history has won more times at Lime Rock than Corvette Racing. In fact, no team in the paddock has half the number of victories at the circuit.

A seventh Lime Rock triumph would go a long way toward helping Garcia, Taylor, the No. 3 C8.R team and Chevrolet get back in prime position to fight for the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO championship. There are five rounds to go counting this weekend with the Corvette squad third in the Drivers, Manufacturers and Teams standings and within striking distance of first place.

The Garcia/Taylor pairing has stood on the top step at Lime Rock before, taking victory in the GT-only race in 2021. This is the first of two races this season to feature only GTD PRO and GTD cars, the second coming at Virginia International Raceway in August. Of note, six of Corvette Racing’s 126 victories worldwide have been overall wins, including the 2021 Lime Rock win for the No. 3 Corvette.

The FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 22. The race will air live on USA and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions beginning with Friday morning’s practice at IMSA.com with the race call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It’s always good to go right back to racing after a win. Everyone I think gets to the track feeling better about things, so I hope that is the case for us at Lime Rock. This is a very intense and physical race usually. It’s so hard to pass and if we are stuck behind GTDs, especially early, then it can be a long and frustrating day. This race is all about track position, so we need to arrive at the track with everything right on our Corvette so we can start fine-tuning immediately. That will be the easiest and best way to start toward the front and hopefully stay there.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Lime Rock is such a unique race for us. It’s nothing like any of our other events, a true bullring of a track. I feel like we’ve had a few races in a row now that we’ve been executing on all levels, and everything fell into place for us at CTMP to get the win. With Lime Rock being such a big race on execution, I always like our chances with Corvette Racing. And if we need to make some positions on track, maybe some of my stock car experience from this year can come into play.”

2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After six of 11 events)

Driver Standings

1. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 2,110
2. Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon – 2,014
3. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2,001
4. Klaus Bachler/Patrick Pilet – 1,955
5. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 1,698

Team Standings

1. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 2,110
2. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 2,014
3. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 2,001
4. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 1,955
5. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 1,698

Manufacturer Standings

1. Lexus – 2,110
2. Mercedes-AMG – 2.014
3. Chevrolet – 2,001
4. Porsche – 1,955
5. Aston Martin – 1,709

CORVETTE RACING AT LIME ROCK: By the Numbers

• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 25 years of racing: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette
• 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Lime Rock Park since 2004 – Corvette C5-R (2004), Corvette C6.R (2005-13), Corvette C7.R (2016-2019) and Corvette C8.R, which made its Lime Rock debut in 2021
• 6: Number of victories at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing, the most of any entrant in IMSA.
• 7: Number of drivers who have won races at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing – Oliver Gavin (four), Olivier Beretta (three), Jan Magnussen (two), and Johnny O’Connell and Tommy Milner (one each). Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor joined the list with last year’s victory
• 7: Fastest race laps for Corvette Racing drivers at Lime Rock. Antonio Garcia (2017) was the most recent
• 7: Pole positions at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing, the most of any entrant in IMSA. Jordan Taylor (2021) was the most recent
• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001
• 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen
• 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship
• 100: As in Corvette Racing’s 100th program victory at Lime Rock Park in 2016
• 126: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America, nine at Le and three in the FIA WEC. The most recent came in the last IMSA round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
• 277: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 6,708.24: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 15 previous trips to Lime Rock Park. That represents 4,412 laps or 64 trips from the Empire State Building in New York City to the track
• 359,080.28: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some!

Corvette Racing at Lime Rock Park (wins in bold)

2004

No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTS

No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GTS (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)

2005

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)

2006

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 4th in GT1 (Beretta fastest race lap)

2007

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (O’Connell fastest race lap)

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1

2008

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Gavin pole, Beretta fastest race lap)

2010

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Johnny O’Connell – 12th in GT2

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 5th in GT2

2011

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 9th in GT

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 10th in GT

2012

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GT

2013

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GT

2016

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM (100tth Corvette Racing win; Gavin fastest lap)

2017

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM

2018

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia pole)

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM

2019

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Marcel Fässler – 6th in GTLM

2021

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Taylor pole)

No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 2nd in GTLM

2022

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 4th in GTD PRO

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Lakeview, Conn. (17 July 2023) – As prototypes return to Lime Rock Park for the first time since 2013, Jr III (“Junior-Three”) Racing will look to make history as the team makes its LRP debut this weekend. Jr III Racing will be competing in two 45-minute races with IMSA’s VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (VPRC) with the Saturday race day slated to be an intense one with a double-header schedule.

VPRC has had three rounds of competition this season starting at Daytona International Speedway and the most recent being at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP). Jr III Racing has entered into all three events with Bijoy Garg behind the wheel of the No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier entry.

Twice, Garg has had to learn the track for the first time during the race weekend. But, he’s shown very well, claiming pole at every track so far. Garg has also ran the fastest lap of race one to secure pole position on two of three race two events.

During Garg’s first race weekend at Daytona International Speedway, Garg scored a third place finish in his first sports car race. Garg went on to Sebring International Raceway and swept the weekend with back to back wins. Most recently Garg drove to two second place finishes at CTMP.

“This will be my first time at Lime Rock Park,”said Garg. “I’m really confident in both the team and the car. I believe that we can get a setup down and I can adjust to the track quickly. Jr III Racing has always brought a fast car for me to drive and I’m excited to see what we can do at Lime Rock Park and hopefully grab a couple more wins.”

Although Jr III Racing will be making its Lime Rock Park debut, the team comes with a secret weapon and that is the team’s engineer Scott Heckert. Heckert grew up just over an hour south of Lime Rock Park in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Heckert took his first driving school at Lime Rock Park with Skip Barber Racing school and then went on to compete at the track in 2015 scoring a fourth place finish in Trans Am – TA2 and came back with Pirelli World Challenge in 2016 to grab a third place finish. Heckert returned in 2018 with Pirelli World Challenge and started the race from pole position.

Jr III Racing will start on track action at Lime Rock Park on Friday July 21. Both VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races will take place on Saturday July 22 and will be aired live on the Peacock app at 9:05 am ET and 3:05 pm ET.

The Florida-based team has secured a Ligier JS P217 for the 2024 Season

JUPITER, Fla. (17 July 2023) – Sean Creech Motorsport (SCM) will enter the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the LMP2 class, moving from LMP3 competition with a recently-acquired Ligier JS P217.

“We’re happy to have our program set for 2024,” said team principal Sean Creech. “We wanted to stay in the prototype classes and our existing relationship with Ligier opened the door to staying with them. It’s the same number of races as LMP3, and the logistics are very similar to the program that we’ve been running the last few years, so it made sense to go with LMP2.”

SCM will make the switch to LMP2 after a long and successful history with the LMP3 class, which will no longer compete in the WeatherTech series. Since the Ligier LMP3-spec chassis was introduced in 2017, the team has contested each of the IMSA series that utilized the chassis: the WeatherTech series, the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, and the IMSA Prototype Challenge. SCM won the 2018 IPC championship, campaigning a Ligier JS P3 under the Extreme Speed Motorsports banner.

Shipped from Europe, the Ligier arrives at the port of Miami this week, with the crew planning to begin prep immediately. They will also continue work on the No. 33 Focal One Ligier JS P320 that will contest the final three IMSA WeatherTech series races of the season – Road America, Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Creech has competed in a multitude of sports car series from the late 80’s until the present day, including Group C, IMSA GTP, WSC, Grand-Am, SRO World Challenge, and IMSA. With that diverse background, he anticipates a smooth transition from LMP3 to LMP2, thanks in part to the deep reservoir of experience that the SCM crew has developed through the years.

“We have a lot of crew members who have worked on the Ligier LMP2 car, so the changeover won’t be difficult at all,” anticipates Creech. “Our engineers are working to get all the data we need to start a testing program – the lead time to get a Gibson lease engine is long so hopefully we can get something going before that. We’ll look to get as many miles as possible over the winter to get completely up to speed on everything before Daytona.”

The Ligier JS P217 has previously raced in North America, most recently as the platform for the Nissan DPi, earning pole at Watkins Glen and winning at Road America, Petit Le Mans, Sebring and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Creech looks forward to remaining in the prototype class and continuing the team’s association with Ligier as it opens a new chapter with the LMP2 campaign.

“We have a long history in prototypes,” said Creech. “I started working on them back in the late 80’s on a Porsche 962. This is a good fit for us, especially given our relationship with Ligier that dates back to 2017. We look forward to starting our 2024 prep now.”

Further information about driver lineups will be forthcoming.

SCM thanks partner Focal One for its continued support.

Next up for SCM will be the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America, August 3 – 6. The race will be broadcast live in the U.S. on USA Network and Peacock TV. International viewers can watch via IMSA.tv, with IMSA Radio also available at IMSA​​.com.

About SCM
Team leader Sean Creech has competed in a multitude of sports car series from 1990 until the present day, including Group C, IMSA GTP, WSC, Grand-Am, SRO World Challenge, and IMSA. SCM will contest the full WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2023 with João Barbosa and Lance Willsey. http://seancreechmotorsport.com/

About Exelixis
Founded in 1994, Exelixis, Inc. is a commercially successful, oncology-focused biotechnology company that strives to accelerate the discovery, development and commercialization of new medicines for difficult-to-treat cancers. https://www.exelixis.com/

About Focal One
One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime in the United States. The Focal One® HIFU Prostate treatment offers patients a non-invasive outpatient procedure to target prostate tissue while avoiding the common side effects such as loss of urinary continence and sexual function. The Focal One treatment uses high-performance, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to precisely target and ablate the prostate, allowing patients to quickly return to normal activities. http://www.focalone.com/

About Jerich International
Jerich International is a family-owned global group of companies that offers large-scale trade and industry customers a holistic logistics approach to freight forwarding through global supply chain management. The company makes use of tailor made concepts, extensive know how and immeasurable experience to set industry-leading practices in logistics. https://www.jerich.com/

SCM thanks partners Exelixis, Focal One and Jerich International for their continued support.

NEXT UP: CHEVROLET GRAND PRIX
CANADIAN TIRE MOTORSPORT PARK | JULY 7-9

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario. (July 6, 2023) – The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship officially enters the second half of the 2023 race season this weekend with round six, the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Based roughly 50 miles northeast of Toronto, Ontario, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park will host the only international race of the year for the WeatherTech series. Driving the No. 77 Wright Motorsports VOLT Lighting Porsche 911 GT3 R, Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman will look to better last year’s third-place finish in Sunday afternoon’s Grand Prix.

“Alan and Trent had a strong performance here last year, and after a recent test at the track, we feel good heading into this event,” said Team Owner John Wright. “The drivers know this circuit well, and we’ve had success here in the past. We are well prepared and ready to fight for more championship points.”

After last month’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, the WeatherTech Championship returns to the sprint format, with Sunday’s race time lasting two hours and forty minutes. The short race time drops the required driver lineup back to the two full-season drivers and sees the grid drop from 57 cars to 36. This weekend’s race will also feature four of IMSA’s five classes, as the LMP2 prototype class will sit out this weekend’s event.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formally known to race fans as Mosport, has been a long staple of the North American sports car racing calendar. The permanent picturesque road course sits on 900 acres of rolling, green hills, running for 2.5 miles with ten turns. The combination of elevation changes, high-speed straights, and sweeping corners, makes it a challenging circuit for competitors and a favorite among race fans.

The Chevrolet Grand Prix will air live Sunday, July 9 on NBC for fans in the United States, starting at 12:00 PM ET. The international stream will be live on imsa.tv, starting at 12:00 PM ET. IMSA Radio will offer live comprehensive coverage of all sessions on imsa.radio.com. For schedule information, visit imsa.com.

Alan Brynjolfsson

It has been discouraging that IMSA has made Porsche the slowest car on the grid three out of five races, but that is not something I can control. I keep training, practicing, and testing, and will give it my all. We tested for two days and have done all we can, it is now in the hands of the BoP Gods to see how competitive our car is compared to the field.

Trent Hindman

CTMP is a racetrack Alan and I know all too well – we’ve been fortunate to have success here in the past and have always shown speed throughout any evolution of VOLT Racing. We were able to get on track for a two-day test just after Watkins Glen, all thanks to the efforts of our Wright Motorsports team. Between the opportunity to test and our history at CTMP, I think we have high hopes and expectations for our weekend.

Wright Motorsports

Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series and international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy, and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013, and 2015, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team, and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship. In 2021, Wright Motorsports had a wildly successful season, capturing nine championships across their five racing efforts.

About VOLT® Lighting

Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, VOLT® Lighting manufactures and distributes quality indoor and outdoor lighting products and systems. VOLT® is the largest manufacturer of professional landscape lighting in the world. For more information, visit www.voltlighting.com or contact the company at customersupport@voltlighting.com or 813-978-3700.

About Adelie Technik

Founded in 2011 Adelie Technik, a Service Disabled Veteran Small Owned Business (SDVOB) deploys the highest caliber engineers and consultants for our customers needs. Adelie is focused on delivery of your solution to your customer on your schedule. Adelie can deliver solutions ranging from PC deployment up to full DataCentre builds and beyond. Our engineers can also migrate your environment to the cloud. For more information on Adelie Technik, see adelietechnik.com.

We represent the highest quality in racing safety with the intention of maintain our position at the top. With 50 years in the industry, Sabelt is the world’s premier safety equipment manufacturer. A result of intense research and development.

Bowmanville, ON, Canada (5 July 2023) – The Heart of Racing (HOR) team will head to Canada this weekend to defend its 2022 victory at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP), for the sixth round of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition. The Chevrolet Grand Prix will air live on NBC at 12:00 pm ET on Sunday, July 9th.

The No. 27 Heart of Racing GTD driver Roman De Angelis, who hails from Windsor, ON., will look to defend his win alongside his 2023 co-driver Marco Sorensen as he targets a win on home soil.

“I always look forward to going to Mosport, not only as a Canadian with it being our only Canadian race, but it’s also such a great track,” said De Angelis. “I’m sure everyone who’s driven there before would agree. Obviously going to a track where we know that the Aston Martin is strong a, as we showed last year with a victory is a good thing. I look forward to hopefully putting together a good result for the Heart of Racing as we’ve had a few tough weekends in a row and a win in Canada will be the best place to get back on the right track.”

At the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, De Angelis and Sorensen were joined by team principal Ian James. After a late race penalty, the No. 27 Aston Martin crossed the finish line sixth following a dramatic six hours of racing. De Angelis and Sorensen will head to CTMP, formerly known as Mosport, sitting third in WeatherTech championship points standing, just 145 points behind the leaders. The duo opened the season by scoring a win at the 24 hours at Daytona and backed that up with a run to a second place finish at Long Beach.

“I’m ready to head to Mosport,” said Sorensen. “This is another new track for me, but I’m ready to get back racing in such a short amount of time. We had some bad luck at Watkins Glen, but I think we can turn it around and grab more championship points this weekend.“

The No. 23 Heart of Racing GTD PRO entry with co-drivers Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas are looking for a turning point as the team enters into the second half of the WeatherTech Championship season.

“Mosport is a really challenging race track,” said Gunn. “I went there for the first time last year and it took me quite a while to get up to speed. The nature and bumpiness of the layout really throws a really unique challenge. I’m looking forward to taking that on head first and try to turn our fortunes around.”

Last year the duo placed third at CTMP, scoring the No. 23 team’s third podium of the season. This season has not gone to plan for Gunn and Riberas as the pair has battled a variety of elements throughout the season and are currently fifth in WeatherTech championship point standings.

“I’m really happy to be going back racing in such a short amount of time, especially after a tough weekend in Watkins Glen,” said Riberas. “To be able to go back to the action next week at Mosport is exactly what the doctor ordered. Mosport is a great track for us. We’ve had success there in the past and on a more personal level, Mosport is my favorite track in the world. I’m definitely excited to go back there. We just have to keep doing our job and keep on executing and at some point, sooner or later it will click for us. We are just staying positive and excited to get back on track.”

The Chevrolet Grand Prix will take the green flag at 12:05pm ET on Sunday July 9th with live coverage on NBC starting at noon.

About The Heart of Racing

The Heart of Racing races to raise funds and awareness for Seattle Children’s Cardiology Research. The team competes internationally with concurrent campaigns in IMSA, SRO, Formula Drift and the 24H SERIES. Last season The Heart of Racing won the IMSA GTD Championship title in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The Heart of Racing team hosted their first all-female driver shootout in November of 2022, bringing to the team Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt for the 2023 SRO GT4 America season. To contribute to The Heart of Racing’s fundraising efforts please visit: https://give.seattlechildrens.org/fundraiser/3642390

The team will pull double duty with WeatherTech and VP Racing Sportscar Challenge campaigns

Bowmanville, ON, Canada (5 July 2023) – Jr III (“Junior-Three”) Racing will head to Canada to compete in the next rounds of both IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and VP Racing Sportscar Challenge this weekend as the IMSA season hits a busy summer stretch of events. The Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park will air live on NBC starting at 12:00 pm ET on Sunday July 9th.

Canadian native, and former CTMP Formula Ford track record holder Garett Grist will be rejoined by Ari Balogh on board the No. 30 Airbnb Ligier JS P320 and look for a repeat podium after scoring a third place finish at CTMP last season. An incident in qualifying prevented Balogh from racing in the 6 Hours of the Glen.

Grist is very familiar with CTMP, the Canadian from Grimsby, ON started his motorsports career on the karting track and worked his way through open wheel and sports cars at the track.

The No. 30 Airbnb team scored a podium finish at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, marking the team’s first podium of the season in WeatherTech competition.

“I can’t wait for Mosport this coming weekend,” said Grist. “It feels great to get back to my home track. Last year at this race we were fast and I’m excited to see how we build on that this year. Mosport is a true classic, fast, high commitment track. We’re coming off a podium at the Six Hours of The Glen so we’re looking to keep that momentum going.”

Alongside the WeatherTech entry, the Jr III Racing crew will also be managing the No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 in the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge. Piloting the No. 3 Ligier will be Bijoy Garg, who last competed in IMSA at Sebring International Raceway in March. Garg will make his debut at the 2.459-mile Canadian track this weekend.

During the March doubleheader weekend, Garg scored two wins at the famed Florida track. These marked the first wins for Jr III Racing at an IMSA sanctioned event.

“We are excited to get up to CTMP,” said Billy Glavin, owner of Jr III Racing. “We were able to have a couple of test days last week and it went great. This will be VP’s first race back since Sebring so we’ll have Bijoy back in the car. He pulled off back to back wins at Sebring, which makes it even more exciting to see him get back behind the wheel. Our WeatherTech guys are also coming off a podium from Watkins Glen. I think overall the team will be in high spirits going into CTMP and we are looking forward to having another good weekend.”

The first race of the weekend for Jr III Racing will be in VP Racing Sportscar Challenge on Saturday morning at 11:40 am ET, followed by a second race Sunday morning at 9:30 am ET. Both VP Racing Sportscar Challenge races will be streamed live on the Peacock App. The Chevrolet Grand Prix will take the green flag at 12:05 pm ET live on NBC, Sunday July 9th.

Cadillac Racing enters sixth GTP race leading in six championship categories

DETROIT (July 5, 2023) – With multiple elevation changes, high-commitment corners, long backstraight, swift succession of left- and right-hand turns, the challenging Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is often referred to as old school.

Renger van der Zande has a different description: bizarre. It’s a compliment.

“Mosport is one of the most bizarre and amazing tracks in the world, not only the IMSA calendar,” the co-driver with Sebastien Bourdais of the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R said.

“Last year was the first time that I won there, but I’ve been trying really hard. And if you want to win there you have to try really hard because it’s one of those tracks where at home I tell how bizarre it is, how fast you go there, how much risk you take, how blind the corners are and at the same time very fast. Also, the traffic is not easy at all. Plus, you need a very fast car. If you don’t have a fast car on the backstraight, you can have a fast car in the corners but you’re not going to win the race. The whole package needs to fit.”

Van der Zande and Bourdais will seek to deliver a complete package this weekend to successfully defend their victory in the 2-hour, 40-minute Chevrolet Grand Prix, where the Grand Touring Prototype racecars are projected to turn in an average lap speed of 137 mph on the flowing 2.459-mile circuit.

It was their third victory of the 2022 season in the twilight of the DPi era. The tandem is fourth in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP standings through five races. Pipo Derani, who drove to a third-place finish last year at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, will co-drive with Alexander Sims the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R this weekend.

With the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R’s runner-up finish and revised points following the June 25 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Cadillac Racing:

• Leads the GTP Manufacturer Championship by 83 points.
• Leads the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GTP Manufacturer standings.
• The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R leads the GTP Driver and Team Championship standings by 64 points.
• The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R leads the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GTP Team and Driver standings through three of four races.

The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R has collected three podium finishes, including an exciting victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.

“On our team, we had tremendous momentum coming back from Le Mans because even though we had an issue on Lap 1 the team pulled together and executed so well that when we got to Watkins Glen we were really riding high in the sense that once we put the car back on track at Le Mans we never had another issue, misstep or loss of lap,” said Chris Mitchum, director of operations for the No. 31 Cadillac prepared by Action Express Racing.

“So, when we got to Watkins Glen, we felt that we were well-prepared. The race was relatively mistake-free outside of the one moment of contact with the back of a GT car that really stole the pace from us. We didn’t get to qualify, we didn’t get a lot of track time and we raced against teams that dedicated multiple days of testing at Watkins Glen beforehand, so I couldn’t have been more thrilled with the pace and execution that we had in the race.”

Cadillac has earned eight Manufacturer Championships in all series since 2004, including 2021, 2018 and 2017 in the IMSA DPi class, along with IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturer titles in 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

NBC will telecast the Chevrolet Grand Prix at noon ET Sunday, July 9, with additional coverage in the U.S. on Peacock Premium. Live broadcast of the race will also be on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM (XM 207, Internet/App 992).

What they’re saying

No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R

Renger van der Zande: “If you don’t have a fast car on the backstraight, you can have a fast car in the corners but you’re not going to win the race. The whole package needs to fit. It’s actually one of those tracks where it’s more interesting from an engineering perspective than you think when you look at it. When you look at the track layout, it’s all about the high speed, but it’s also about top speed at that track.”

Sebastien Bourdais: “It’s a fast track with not much room for error. It’s a place for soldiers like Renger, who pretty much single-handedly won the race last year with a difficult car to handle. I’ll again try to keep the car on the track at the start and let him do his thing. (about track position) He restarted last and went through the field a couple times. Traffic management is really tricky there. You have to read it right and with the track not being really wide and where you catch cars you have to make the right decisions.”

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R

Alexander Sims: “I’m really looking forward to Mosport. I did two GTLM races there, winning in 2017, and absolutely loved it. I’m really looking forward to the high-speed nature, particularly Turns 1 and 2 with the elevation and that fast corner. It has similar track tendencies to Watkins Glen, so I’m hopeful of a strong weekend.”

Pipo Derani: “It’s a high-speed track and traffic is going to play a role again like at Watkins Glen. It will be interesting, and the most important thing will be to try to stay out of trouble on a very tight track and hope for some good points.”