International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018.[1] It was the fifth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the twenty-seventh annual running of the race. The 2019 Northeast Grand Prix was the eighth of twelve sports car races of 2019 by IMSA, and it was the fourth of seven rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[2] The race was held at the seven-turn 1.530mi (2.462km)Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut on July 20, 2019.[3] The race was the first of two GT-only rounds on the 2019 IMSA calendar in which the prototype classes, Daytona Prototype international (DPi) and Le Mans Prototype (LMP2) would not take part.[3]
On July 11, 2019, IMSA released a technical bulletin regarding the Balance of Performance for the race. The GT Le Mans (GTLM) balance of performance constraints would remain as they were in the previous round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. In the GT Daytona (GTD) class, after winning the previous round, the BMW M6 GT3 was given a power reduction of 12 horsepower, as well as a 2-liter fuel capacity reduction and a restriction of turbo boost. The Ferrari 488 GT3 and the Porsche 911 GT3 R were made 10 and five kilograms lighter, respectively.[4]
A total 21 cars took part in the event split across two classes. There were eight cars entered in GTLM, and 13 in GTD. The most notable change to the grid included the return of Blancpain GT World Challenge America full-time team Wright Motorsports, with drivers Anthony Imperato and Porsche Junior Professional driver Matt Campbell. Pfaff Motorsports regular driver Scott Hargrove would sit out the Lime Rock Park event as well as the following event at Road America, replaced instead by Porsche Junior driver Dennis Olsen for the Lime Rock event. Olsen and Campbell would switch places for Road America.[6][7] Due to this event happening 50 years and one day after the Apollo 11 Moon landing, GTD team Magnus Racing decided to commemorate the anniversary of the mission by launching a one-off livery designed to look like the Saturn V rocket, and run under the number 11. As Magnus Racing usually ran under car number 44, the team received special dispensation by IMSA to count the points they would score as number 11 towards their full-season points under number 44.[8]
Practice
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, one on Friday morning and two on Friday afternoon. The first session on Friday morning lasted 90 minutes while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted one hour. The third session on Friday afternoon lasted one hour.[9]
The third and final practice session took place at 4:55 pm ET Friday and ended with Nick Tandy topping the charts for Porsche GT Team, with a lap time of 49.782. Laurens Vanthoor was second fastest in the sister No. 912 Porsche followed by Richard Westbrook in the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entry.[20]Oliver Gavin was fourth fastest in the No. 4 Corvette and Dirk Müller's No. 66 Ford GT rounded out the top five.[17] The GTD class was topped by the No. 48 Paul Miller RacingLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of Bryan Sellers with a time of 51.797. Patrick Long in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche was second fastest followed by Mario Farnbacher's No. 86 Acura in third position. The No. 11 Magnus Racing Lamborghini of Andy Lally was fourth fastest and Zacharie Robichon's No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche rounded out the top five.[21] The Turner Motorsport entry did not set a lap time.[22]Marcel Fässler crashed the No. 4 Corvette Racing entry at turn five, damaging his vehicle's front nose, but managed to managed to return to the pitlane for repairs.[20][22]
Saturday's morning qualifying session was divided into two groups that lasted 15 minutes each.[9] Cars in GTD were sent out first and, after a ten-minute interval, GTLM vehicles drove onto the track. All cars were required to be driven by one participant and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap.[25] IMSA then arranged the grid so that the GTLM field started in front of all GTD cars.
The first was for cars in the GTD class. Trent Hindman qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 86 car for Meyer Shank Racing, beating Ben Keating in the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG by less than one-tenth of a second. The No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán of Corey Lewis set the third fastest time.[26] However, the team were sent to the back of the GTD grid after the car failed post-qualifying technical inspection where it was discovered that the Lamborghini was found to not have complied with mandated ride height.[27] As a result, Robby Foleys No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW was promoted to third position followed by Zacharie Robichon's No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche in fourth, and Richard Heistand's No. 12 Lexus in fifth position.[28]
The No. 48 Paul Miller Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field for violating competition rules regarding the car's ride height.[33]
Race
Post-race
The final results of GTLM kept Bamber and Vanthoor atop the Drivers' Championship as they extended their advantage to eight points over Pilet and Tandy. Briscoe and Westbrook advanced from sixth to fourth.[34] The final results of GTD meant Farnbacher and Hindman extended their advantage to 30 points as Auberlen and Foley took over second position. Long advanced from fifth to third while Montecalvo and Bell dropped from second to fourth.[34] Porsche and Acura continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Porsche GT Team and Meyer Shank Racing kept their respective advantages in their Teams' Championships with four rounds left in the season.[34]
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