The 2016 Northeast Grand Prix was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut on July 23, 2016. The race was the eighth round of the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015. [1] It was the second consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the twenty-fifth annual running of the race. The 2016 Northeast Grand Prix was the eighth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2016 by IMSA, and was the fifth round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup. [1] The race was held at the seven-turn 1.530 mi (2.462 km) Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut on July 23, 2016. [2] The GTLM category would participate in the event for the first time since the 2013 running. [3]
IMSA altered the balance of performance to try to create parity within the GTLM category. The BMW M6 GTLM received a reduction in turbo boost pressure and a 2-litre fuel capacity reduction. The Ferrari 488 GTE received an increase in turbo boost pressure, and a 2-litre fuel capacity increase as well as a 1.0 mm refuelling hose restrictor reduction increase. The Ford GT received a 0.1 mm refuelling hose restrictor reduction. The Porsche 911 RSR had its weight increased by 20kg (44 lb). [4]
Thirty-one cars were officially entered for the Northeast Grand Prix, with most of the entries being in the Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories. The Prototype Challenge (PC) class was composed of eight Oreca FLM09 cars: three from Starworks Motorsports. BAR1 Motorsports, CORE Autosport, JDC-Miller MotorSports, Performance Tech and PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entered one car each. [5] GTLM was represented by nine entries from five different brands. [5] In the list of GTD entrants, fourteen GT3-specification vehicles were represented by six different manufacturers. [5] With the absence of the Prototype (P) class from the field, only three racing classes were represented in Lime Rock. [2]
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, both on Friday. The two one-hour sessions were on Friday afternoon. [6]
In the first practice session, Renger van der Zande set the fastest time in the No. 8 Starworks car with a time of 48.808 seconds, 0.214 seconds faster than Colin Braun's No. 54 CORE Autosport vehicle, and Stephen Simpson's No. 85 car was third. [7] The GTLM class was topped by the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin. Joey Hand in the No. 66 Ford GT was second and Toni Vilander's Risi Ferrari was third. [8] Audi paced GTD with Magnus Racing's R8 of Lally lapping at 52.807, followed by Jens Klingmann's No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6. [8] The session was stopped for 10 minutes when John Edwards No.100 RLL BMW M6 stopped on track due to a driveline failure. [7]
Braun led the final practice session in CORE's No. 54 car with a lap of 48.990 seconds. Kimber-Smith's No. 52 PR/1's vehicle was second fastest. Marcelli was third fastest for Performance Tech. [9] BMW topped GTLM with Werner's No. 25 car lapping at 51.164 seconds. Vilander was second fastest for Risi Competizione and Milner's No. 4 Corvette was third. [9] Farnbacher led the GTD class in the No. 23 Porsche, followed by Liddell's No. 6 Stevenson Motorsport Audi R8. [9] [10]
Friday afternoon's 65-minute three-group qualifying session gave 15-minute sessions to all categories. Cars in GTD were sent out first before those grouped in GTLM, and PC had two separate identically timed sessions. Regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each classes starting order. IMSA would arranged the grid to put all PCs ahead of the GTLM, and GTD cars. [11] [6]
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PC | 54 |  CORE Autosport | Colin Braun | 48.824 | _ | 8 1 |
| 2 | PC | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Robert Alon | 48.840 | +0.016 | 1‡ |
| 3 | PC | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports | James French | 48.930 | +0.106 | 2 |
| 4 | PC | 7 | Starworks Motorsport |  José Gutiérrez | 48.978 | +0.154 | 3 |
| 5 | PC | 8 | Starworks Motorsport |  Alex Popow | 49.222 | +0.398 | 4 |
| 6 | PC | 20 | BAR1 Motorsports | Matt McMurry | 49.266 | +0.442 | 5 |
| 7 | PC | 85 | JDC-Miller MotorSports |  Misha Goikhberg | 49.659 | +0.835 | 6 |
| 8 | GTLM | 67 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing |  Richard Westbrook | 50.748 | +1.924 | 9‡ |
| 9 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL |  Dirk Werner | 50.834 | +2.010 | 10 |
| 10 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Tommy Milner | 50.858 | +2.034 | 11 |
| 11 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione |  Toni Vilander | 50.902 | +2.078 | 12 |
| 12 | GTLM | 66 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Joey Hand | 51.015 | +2.191 | 13 |
| 13 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing |  Jan Magnussen | 51.264 | +2.440 | 14 |
| 14 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche North America |  Patrick Pilet | 51.346 | +2.522 | 15 |
| 15 | GTLM | 100 | BMW Team RLL | John Edwards | 51.431 | +2.607 | 16 |
| 16 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche North America | Frédéric Makowiecki | 51.445 | +2.621 | 17 |
| 17 | PC | 88 | Starworks Motorsport | Mark Kvamme | 51.629 | +2.805 | 8 |
| 18 | GTD | 16 | Change Racing | Spencer Pumpelly | 53.178 | +4.324 | 18‡ |
| 19 | GTD | 6 | Stevenson Motorsports | Andrew Davis | 53.222 | +4.354 | 19 |
| 20 | GTD | 9 | Stevenson Motorsports | Matt Bell | 53.250 | +4.398 | 20 |
| 21 | GTD | 63 | Scuderia Corsa | Christina Nielsen | 53.250 | +4.426 | 21 |
| 22 | GTD | 48 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 53.330 | +4.506 | 22 |
| 23 | GTD | 23 | Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing | Mario Farnbacher | 53.538 | +4.714 | 23 |
| 24 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Bret Curtis | 53.588 | +4.764 | 24 |
| 25 | GTD | 73 | Park Place Motorsports | Patrick Lindsey | 53.609 | +4.785 | 25 |
| 26 | GTD | 27 | Dream Racing |  Cédric Sbirrazzuoli | 53.680 | +4.786 | 31 2 |
| 27 | GTD | 97 | Turner Motorsport | Michael Marsa | 53.695 | +4.871 | 26 |
| 28 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing | John Potter | 53.698 | +4.874 | 27 |
| 29 | GTD | 22 | Alex Job Racing | Cooper MacNeil | 53.784 | +4.960 | 28 |
| 30 | GTD | 33 | Riley Motorsports | Ben Keating | 53.983 | +5.159 | 30 3 |
| 31 | GTD | 540 | Black Swan Racing | Tim Pappas | 54.949 | +6.155 | 29 |
| Sources: [12] [13] | |||||||
Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.
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