Category: IMSA

No. 3 Corvette wins over No. 4 C8.R in weather-shortened, GT-only race

LAKEVILLE, Conn. (July 17, 2021) – Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia won a weather-shortened Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park on Saturday, their third straight victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Taylor and Garcia had the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R ahead when the race was stopped with 70 minutes left due to lightning in the immediate area of the track. Race officials called the race with 25 minutes left in the two-hour, 40-minute GT-only contest.

The mid-engine Corvette C8.R won its Lime Rock debut, and Corvette Racing won at the circuit for the sixth time. It also marked the first overall Lime Rock victory for Corvette Racing.

Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy placed second in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R, their second straight runner-up finish. Saturday’s results increased the lead for Garcia and Taylor in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Drivers Championship and Chevrolet’s advantage in the Manufacturers standings.

Taylor began from pole position and Milner third following a precautionary engine change overnight. Milner moved the No. 4 up to second behind Taylor at the start, and the two Corvettes ran 1-2 throughout the race. Both cars made their first stops a lap apart just past the 30-minute mark for fuel and tires. By that point, both Taylor and Milner were mired in slower GTD traffic and on a three-stop strategy.

Milner, who suffered damage in his second stint after contact from a slower car, was the first Corvette driver to make his second stop and handed off to Tandy with 80 minutes remaining. Taylor did the same a lap later with a swap to Garcia as both Corvettes took fuel and fresh Michelin tires.

Five minutes later, race officials called for a full-course caution to monitor the approaching weather and stopped the race a lap later.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the IMSA SportsCar Weekend on Aug. 6-8 from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Same-day coverage on NBCSN starts at 8 p.m. ET with live streaming coverage on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold at 2:35 p.m. ET. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio will be available on IMSA.com.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – RACE-WINNER: “For sure, Jordan did an amazing job. He drove the first two stints and it was the plan for me to be in for the other two. We knew this could happen. In a way, I’m happy that he drove so well and managed to keep the 4 car at a distance the whole time and control it so I could have a really quick driver change. That helped us extend our lead. But you never know. It would have tight; I don’t know if it would have been raining or not at the end so it would have been hard to keep the lead. I’m really pleased for another Corvette 1-2. Looking at how Jordan and Tommy (Milner) drove, it seemed like very hard work with tire degradation, especially. I will definitely take it. It’s my first win at Lime Rock so I’m happy with this.”
HAVE YOU HAD A RACE TO END LIKE THIS? “No, I don’t think so. But it is what it is. We had a ton of fans out here today and safety comes first. This time we were lucky in that we were leading when the red flag came. For sure, you need to be up there in that position to benefit from the conditions.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – RACE-WINNER: “It was odd. We kind of knew what was going to happen going into it. We knew it was going to be a race of tire degradation and strategy, whether it be a two-stop or three-stop race just looking at the history of the race. Twenty laps in, we knew it was going to be a three-stop race doing 45-lap stints. It was about fuel mileage, saving tires and getting through traffic cleanly. Thankfully we executed well and the driver change went well. We knew the weather was imminent at some point and that it could be red-flagged, so we knew track position was going to be important. Thankfully we were out front when that came.”

HAVE YOU HAD A RACE TO END LIKE THIS? “The 2019 Rolex 24, we won when it was red-flagged for too much rain. It was a similar feeling sitting in the pitlane with an hour to go and maybe no more pit stops. You’re waiting to see if it’s going to go green again, so it’s kind of very stressful with the unknown. Today looking at the radar, a couple of miles north of the track there were a crazy amount of lightning strikes so I think it was going to come this way no matter what. It wasn’t as rainy as Daytona that year, but today was a similar feeling.”

TOMMY SAID HE HAD A LACK OF REAR GRIP EARLY. WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO CARS IN THE OPENING? “I don’t know if it was a big advantage. If it was anything, I think it was getting fortunate in traffic. You could gain or lose a second-and-a-half depending on where you got traffic. Some laps I could see myself gaining in traffic and on another lap I’d lose two seconds and he’d be right there again. I think the ebb and flow of that would show the gaps. I don’t know if the lap-time delta was going to be that big on a clear track. We were saving tires right from the get-go. The tire degradation was a lot bigger than I expected. To do a two-stop race was going to be almost impossible. Even doing a three-stopper with 45-lap stints… once you got to 35 laps there was a steep drop-off. Maybe they suffered a little bit more than we did with that. We started with a setup knowing the car was going in that direction and using tools like the traction control and everything we had in the car to save tires early on and hopefully benefit later in the stint.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND
YOUR TEAM TOLD YOU AT ONE POINT THAT YOU WERE MAYBE GOING TO LEAPFROG THE NO. 3 UNDER THE PIT STOP WHEN YOU CHANGED DRIVERS.
“It was looking pretty good there because they short-filled on their first stop to make it out in front of some of the traffic, so they are always watching that kind of stuff. I was probably about 2.5 seconds back of the No. 3 car until I got to the No. 96 car and he ran me off the road and damaged the car. The car was a handful after that. Had I been able to stay with the No. 3 car then we would have had a fuel advantage and we would have probably been able to beat them out. It’s just unfortunate, the contact there. The team is not lying to me and that’s good. It is probably better in most cases to not tell a driver everything, but something like that is definitely encouraging. It’s just a bummer. We were looking pretty good there with their strategy call. It was going to help us in the end, but in the end it didn’t play out that way.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/Sirius XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND
IT WAS A CHALLENGING WEEKEND WITH HOW THIS RACE FINISHED.
“Yeah, it was a challenging weekend. We obviously had a few technical issues and we set ourselves a way to go about the race and try and make the best two hours and 40 minutes, and unfortunately, we didn’t get to stretch it out. But yeah, another Corvette 1-2 so it’s good points for the Manufacturers Championship and this is obviously the main goal.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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.

Henderson and Robert Noaker Third in No. 84 Sabelt/Pagid Honda Civic TCR;
No. 94 Qelo Capital/Dinner With Racers Honda Civic TCR Going To Back-Up Car For Saturday’s Race

LIME ROCK, Connecticut (July 16, 2021) – Brian Henderson drove the No. 84 Sabelt/Pagid Honda Civic TCR to third on the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge grid for Atlanta Speedwerks during Friday’s qualifying, setting up a second row start for Saturday’s two-hour Lime Rock Park 120.

Saturday’s race is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. EDT and can be seen live via TrackPass on the NBC Sports app.

Henderson’s best time during the 15-minute qualifying session came in 54.484 seconds (97.657 mph) on his 10th lap of the 1.5-mile circuit. Henderson will start the race and run the opening stint before passing the car to Robert Noaker for the run to the finish.

It’s the sixth time this season in as many races that at least one Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic has qualified in the top three TCR positions.

“We’re really happy with P3 overall,” Henderson said. “We’re really close on time, and we’ve been working on race pace for the end when Robert will be there. I think we’re setup pretty good for that. We should be quick at the end and hopefully we’ll come away with a couple of cars on the podium.”

Ryan Eversley, who sits second in the season-long Driver Standings, and co-driver Scott Smithson will start the No. 94 Qelo Capital/Dinner With Racers Honda Civic TCR from the rear of the field after a practice-session crash. The team is currently prepping a back-up car for use in Saturday’s race.

Atlanta Speedwerks is riding a two-race winning streak after sweeping the back-to-back Watkins Glen races, first with Eversley and team owner Todd Lamb in the No. 94 machine, and then with Henderson and Noaker in the No. 84 Honda Civic.

With that win, Henderson and Noaker have moved to sixth in the Driver and Team Championship and are hoping to improve more in Saturday’s race.

Pre-race festivities begin at 10:05 a.m. EDT on Saturday morning, with the green flag at 11:05 a.m. EDT on the NBC Sports app.

About Atlanta Speedwerks
Atlanta Speedwerks is a professional road racing team and prep shop, providing road racing services, car builds, roll cages, arrive and drive programs, and performance parts. Headquartered near Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the company runs winning arrive & drive programs in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, Mazda MX-5 Cup, Porsche Club of America and SCCA Spec Miata, among others. Professional coaching and driver development round out the company’s offerings.

LAKEVILLE, Conn. (14 July 2021) – Rebel Rock Racing will be looking to bounce back from two disappointing weekends at Watkins Glen International when the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge visits scenic Lime Rock Park during the annual Northeast Grand Prix Weekend.

Frank DePew and Robin Liddell will co-drive the No. 71 Urban Grid Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R in the two-hour Lime Rock 120, set to take the green flag at 11:05 a.m. on Saturday.

This will be DePew’s first race at the seven-turn, 1.478-mile classic circuit. He missed the event two years ago due to a schedule conflict, when Liddell set the fastest lap and joined Andrew Davis in a fifth-place finish. Last year’s race was cancelled due to the pandemic.

“We’re heading to Lime Rock on Wednesday to get ready to get going again,” Liddell said. “Watkins Glen was very unfortunate – end of story. We have to move forward and we’re looking forward to Lime Rock. I think we’ll fare better there.”

Liddell has enjoyed success at Lime Rock in all the different variations of the Camaro that has competed in IMSA and Grand-Am, with his most recent victory in 2017 with Stevenson Motorsports with the GT4.R, in addition to a pair of Grand-Am Rolex Series GT triumphs in 2011 and 2012.

“I personally enjoy Lime Rock,” Liddell said. “I like that part of the world. It’s a very nice place and the track’s good fun. We’ve done quite well there in the past, and we’ve had great success with all of the Camaros I’ve driven – the GT4 car and the Z-28. The car’s always done quite well there.”

Also a rules adjustment to the Balance of Performance should help the team this weekend.

“We’ve had a slight BOP break for this event,” he explained. “They took 20 kilos off the car for this weekend, so we will have a slight improvement in performance. I think that will definitely help us. I’m excited for this weekend.”

Since DePew has yet to race at the circuit, he joined Liddell for a recent Lime Rock track day.

“Lime Rock is definitely a flowing track, and you have to get into a rhythm,” DePew said. “I’m happy to have had the opportunity with the track day to understand it a little bit better before I get there with the race car for the first time in the race car. It’s critical to get up to speed there and get on pace as quickly as possible. With a really short lap from a time perspective – running laps in the high 40-second range – that’s going to be a lot of laps in a short period of time.”

The Michelin Pilot Challenge recently raced on back-to-back weekends at Watkins Glen, with the move necessitated by the cancellation of the event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The car was badly damaged in an accident very early in the June 26 event, when DePew swerved to avoid a misplaced sponsor sign in Turn 8 on the seventh lap.

That incident requiring a massive rebuild at the circuit for the second race on Friday, July 2. However, the steering rack failed in the early laps of the event, sending the car for a lengthy trip to the paddock. Fortunately for the team, no major repairs were required following the second race.

“The only thing we needed after the second race at the Glen to do was to replace the steering components,” Liddell said. “We believe we picked up some debris in one of the lines in the first accident, and that was what compromised the steering rack. We put a replacement steering rack and steering pump on the car after the accident, but we think there must have been some contamination in one of the lines. But other than that, the car was good to go.”

The Lime Rock round opens the second half of the 10-race Michelin Pilot Challenge season, and DePew is looking forward to getting back on the podium.

“It’s pretty important for us to bounce back from Watkins Glen,” DePew said. “I hate to follow Watkins Glen with a track like Lime Rock, where I have never raced before. I was really confident at Watkins Glen, and I felt really good about the car and our overall chances. It didn’t work out, though, but hopefully we can turn it around this weekend.”

Lime Rock will host a pair of practice sessions on Friday at 10:05 a.m. and 1:25 p.m. (all times ET), followed by GS qualifying at 4:40 p.m.

BATAVIA, Ohio. (July 14, 2021) – The battle for each of the 2021 IMSA Championship titles heats up this weekend at Lime Rock Park for the next rounds of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge. The “Road Racing Center of the East” will host the condensed weekend, in which Wright Motorsports will enter a Porsche in each series, with both races taking place on Saturday, July 17th.

“It will be a brief but fun weekend at Lime Rock Park,” said Team Owner John Wright. “After last year’s race was canceled due to the pandemic rescheduling, it’s great to finally be back racing at such a special track. Our cars should be strong, and we’re hoping to add some more points to our championship standing as we get closer to those titles.”

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
In the WeatherTech GTD class, the duo of Patrick Long and Trent Hindman will have their first sprint race together following Ryan Hardwick’s recent decision to focus solely on this Michelin Pilot Challenge GS racing effort. Long and Hindman celebrated a strong qualifying session at the previous round, the Six Hours of the Glen, earning a second-place starting position and third-place qualifying points. Qualifying will be crucial this weekend at Lime Rock Park, as the 1.5-mile, seven-turn road course offers little room for passing or rest. Pit stop strategy and execution, an area where Wright Motorsports continuously shines, will also play a large role in the final race results, as it will provide strong competitors with an additional opportunity to gain position on a tight course.

The Northeast Grand Prix will consist of a tight schedule, with practice one, two, and qualifying all being held on Friday, July 16. Saturday, July 17 will kick off with an early warm-up, and the field will take the green flag at 3:00 PM Eastern, live on TRACKPASS, and tape-delayed on NBCSN at 5:30 PM Eastern. Before the race goes green, IMSA will host its usual pre-race open-grid fan walk, where fans will be invited to pit lane to view the cars and meet the teams. Wright Motorsports will host pit stop demonstrations during this time, open to all fans to watch. The open grid fan walk will run from 2:05 PM to 2:50 PM.

DRIVER QUOTES

Patrick Long
No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
Lime Rock is sports car racing’s version of a bullring; very tight, technical, and hard to pass on. The team’s racecraft and strategy must be picture perfect. Car-wise, it’s a difficult one for tire life. Over the history of the track, the Porsche 911 has proven very well suited for Lime Rock with the car’s agility and light-touch attitude. Driving this track tests the driver’s mentality as you are often in tight quarters traffic and there is little time for a break. I like how the race rewards entrants who really put a complete race together.

Trent Hindman
No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
Lime Rock marks the first non-endurance event of the year for me with the 1st Phorm, Wright Motorsports Porsche. Fortunately, it is a racetrack I know quite well since it’s the IMSA round that lands closest to home. Just looking at how strong Wright Motorsports has been at Lime Rock in the past and obviously Pat’s history of success here, I’d like to think we will land well towards the front of the grid. The opportunity to get to know this team through three major endurance races before heading into the sprint-focused portion of our year gives great confidence in what we have together.

Michelin Pilot Challenge
After a series of second-place finishes, the team’s Michelin Pilot Challenge program is hungrier than ever to secure a first-place finish. After missing the first race of the season, the driving duo of Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen has brought the No. 16 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport up to fifth in the championship standings with five races remaining. The Lime Rock Park 120 will run for two hours, beginning at 11:05 AM Eastern. Fans can watch live on NBC Sports Gold’s TRACKPASS or imsa.tv.

DRIVER QUOTES

Ryan Hardwick
No. 16 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
Lime Rock is always a fun track to race at! Our Porsche should be strong around there, so we will be gunning for the top step on the podium. We are getting a little tired of finishing in second place so many times, so we will be pushing hard for our first win in the GS class. It’s going to be a hot one, but we are prepared and ready.

Jan Heylen
No. 16 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
Lime Rock Park is one of my favorite tracks in the U.S., so I’m excited to be going back, and in GT4. It is going to be a busy race with a lot of action. I’m very excited to go back. We’ve come off another podium finish a few weeks ago at Watkins Glen, and hopefully, we can continue on that streak and score more points to get us in the top three and closer to the leaders in the championship. We’re all ready for a good, close battle on a very busy Lime Rock track.

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1st Phorm
1st Phorm is a sports nutrition company based in St. Louis, MO. In 2009, CEO Andy Frisella and his business partner Chris Klein started the brand, and since then, it has become the fastest growing supplement company in the world. 1st Phorm has set the standards in the industry for quality and helping people reach their goals. This new racing partnership is not their first time in the exotic car scene either. 1st Phorm has been the title sponsor for the Gold Rush Rally for six years running. With over a million followers across social media, 1st Phorm has amassed a huge cult-like following known as, “The Legion of Boom.” They stand for a movement in the fitness world. To turn it back to what it was meant to be. Helping others improve their lives, to be a good human… and to drop the excuses and do the work. 1st Phorm is a winning brand and they don’t expect anything less when it comes to their race team. For additional info: www.1stphorm.com

Mountain Motorsports
Mountain Motorsports is a group of motorcycle and powersports dealerships with multiple locations in the southeastern United States. The company was founded by lifelong friends Ryan Hardwick and Justin Price when they opened their first location as a single-line Honda dealership in Sevierville, Tennessee in 1999. The company has since grown into one of the largest retailers of motorcycle and powersports vehicles in the nation, spanning nine dealership locations representing eleven of the industry’s most well-known brands. For additional info: www.mountainmotorsports.com

Una Vida Tequila
Una Vida translates to One Life. That is how this brand started. By people who want to live their “One Life” to the absolute fullest and to their highest potential. A group of guys from the Midwest who love great quality tequila, and want their One Life to have meaning and impact others.

One Life, One Tequila is our CORE BELIEF. We’re building the only tequila brand you will ever need to drink. Una Vida is bigger than just tequila we’re also building a culture of people who want to live their life to their utmost potential.

Our story begins and continues to grow bottle by bottle. It’s a life mission for us to create a community of people who all raise a glass knowing they’re living their ONE LIFE! For more information, visit unavidatequila.com

Wright Motorsports
Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series, 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.. For more information, visit wrightmotorsports.com

WATKINS GLEN, NY (2 July 2021) – Rebel Rock Racing’s bad luck at Watkins Glen International continued in Friday’s Sahlen’s 120, with a pair of issues leading to a short day in the team’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge outing. The team suffered a setback in last weekend’s race with a crash early in the race, but rebounded to be ready for the second race of the week with the No. 71 Urban Grid Rebel Rock Racing Camaro GT4.R.

Rebel Rock Racing drivers Frank DePew and Robin Liddell were hoping to make a big rebound in the results for the truncated event, which featured just one practice on Thursday ahead of the qualifying session.

Unfortunately, rain intervened on Thursday and Liddell was not able to turn many laps in the one-hour session. Thursday evening, DePew went out and qualified 19th with a lap of 1:59.591-seconds.

At the start of the two-hour race, DePew quickly moved to 17th and held that position in the early laps. However, he pitted on the ninth lap, saying that the Camaro wouldn’t steer to the left. The team addressed the problem on pit road, but the car wouldn’t restart due to an electrical issue. The Rebel Rock crew quickly changed the battery and made other repairs.

After getting the car back to the paddock, a further investigation found that debris had contributed to the issue, but the time requirement to make the needed repairs to the steering rack were too large to be able to return to action in time.

“This was a tough few days for us, but we’ll rebound at Road America,” said Liddell, who staged a breathtaking final few laps to win the 2019 edition of the Wisconsin event. “It is obviously a shame as we were hoping to gain some points momentum with these two races here in New York, but it didn’t turn out that way at all for us. The team did an outstanding job nonetheless, and we’ll look for a little more luck next month!”

The team will prepare the car for the next event on the Michelin Pilot Challenge schedule, which will be at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., for the Northeast Grand Prix on July 16-17.

Additional updates via:

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