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Qualifying
The heat, tyre management and the traffic with 30 cars on the short 2.414-kilometre Lime Rock Park racetrack – these are the main challenges that
In the GTD class, Mario Farnbacher (Germany) takes off from sixth place in the
Qualifying quotes
Steffen Höllwarth, Program Manager IMSA SportsCar Championship: “We’ve taken a small step forward today. Our focus was on preparing for tomorrow and we’re expecting a very exciting race. With 30 cars on this very short track it’ll definitely be extremely tight, especially since there is not a great difference in the speeds. With temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, tyre management will naturally be another very special challenge. However, I’m confident that we are well positioned.”
Patrick Pilet (911 RSR #911): “That was a good qualifying for us. In the race it’s important that we drive consistently over the entire stint, which won’t be easy because we’ll each be turning more than 70 laps. We don’t know how good our tyres will be at the end of a stint as we didn’t have time during practice to turn that many laps. I’m very pleased with our 911 RSR. Now we just have to wait and see how things go in the race. The traffic will certainly play a key role on this very short and difficult racetrack. You have to risk a lot here to overtake. But we all face this same challenge. I’m feeling very confident.”
Frédéric Makowiecki (911 RSR #912): “In spite of our position, we’re satisfied with the qualifying. The balance of our 911 RSR was not as good as it was in practice, but we have until tomorrow morning to work on this. I was held up by traffic in the beginning, and afterwards I wasn’t able to turn a decent lap. Still, I’m feeling optimistic. We have a good car for the race.”
Qualifying result
GTLM class
1. Briscoe/Westbrook (AUS/GB), Ford GT, 50.748 seconds
2. Auberlen/Werner (USA/D), BMW M6, + 0.086
3. Gavin/Milner /GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, + 0.110
4. Fisichella/Vilander (I/SF), Ferrari 488 GTE, + 0.154
5. Hand/Müller (USA/D), Ford GT, + 0.267
6. Garcia/Magnussen (E/DK), Chevrolet Corvette, + 0.516
7. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB),
9. Bamber/Makowiecki (NZ/F),
GTD class
1. Pumpelly/Lewis (USA/USA) Lamborghini GT3, 53.148 seconds
2. Liddell/Davis (GB/USA), Audi R8, + 0.030
3. Aschenbach/Bell (USA/USA), Audi R8, + 0.074
6. Riberas/Farnbacher (E/D),
8. Bergmeister/Lindsey/ (D/USA),
12. MacNeil/Keen (USA/USA),
14. Pappas/Pildrim (USA/USA),
The race at Lime Rock Park gets underway on Saturday, 23 July, at 15:05 hrs local time (21:05 hrs CEST) and runs over 2:40 hours. Outside the USA, the race can be seen live on www.imsa.com.
All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.