The2019 Northeast Grand Prix was asports car race sanctioned by theInternational Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held atLime Rock Park inLakeville, Connecticut, on July 20, 2019, as the eighth round of the2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the fourth round of the 2019 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2019 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 1.530 mi (2.462 km)Lime Rock Park inLakeville, 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 atCanadian Tire Motorsport Park. In the GT Daytona (GTD) class, after winning the previous round, theBMW 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. TheFerrari 488 GT3 and thePorsche 911 GT3 R were made 10 and five kilograms lighter, respectively.[4]
Before the race,Earl Bamber andLaurens Vanthoor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 186 points, ahead ofPatrick Pilet andNick Tandy in second.[5] In GTD,Mario Farnbacher andTrent Hindman led the Drivers' Championship with 151 points; the duo held a nineteen-point advantage overFrankie Montecalvo andTownsend Bell in second followed byBill Auberlen andRobby Foley with 123 points in third.[5]Porsche andAcura were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whilePorsche GT Team andMeyer Shank Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[5]
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 ofBlancpain GT World Challenge America full-time team Wright Motorsports, with drivers Anthony Imperato and Porsche Junior Professional driverMatt Campbell. Pfaff Motorsports regular driverScott Hargrove would sit out the Lime Rock Park event as well as the following event atRoad America, replaced instead by Porsche Junior driverDennis 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 theApollo 11 Moon landing, GTD teamMagnus Racing decided to commemorate the anniversary of the mission by launching a one-off livery designed to look like theSaturn 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]
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 first practice session took place at 11:25 amET on Friday and ended withNick Tandy topping the charts forPorsche GT Team, with a lap time of 50.065.Oliver Gavin was second fastest in the No. 4 Corvette followed byConnor De Phillippi in the No. 25BMW Team RLL entry.[10]Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette was fourth fastest andRichard Westbrook's No. 67 Ford GT rounded out the top five.[11] The GTD class was topped by the No. 86Meyer Shank RacingAcura NSX GT3 Evo ofMario Farnbacher with a time of 1:16.885.Jeroen Bleekemolen was second fastest in the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG followed by the No. 48Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini ofBryan Sellers in third position.[11]Patrick Long's No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche was fourth fastest andMatt Campbell in the No. 91 Wright Motorsports Porsche rounded out the top five.[12]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche GT Team | Nick Tandy | 50.050 | _ |
| 2 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin | 50.398 | +0.333 |
| 3 | GLTM | 25 | BMW Team RLL | Connor De Phillippi | 50.416 | +0.351 |
| Sources:[13][14] | ||||||
The second practice session took place at 2:20 PMET on Friday and ended withAntonio García topping the charts forCorvette Racing, with a lap time of 50.302.Connor De Phillippi was second fastest in the No. 6BMW Team RLL entry followed byJesse Krohn in the sister No. 24 BMW.[15]Richard Westbrook was fourth fastest in the No. 67Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entry followed by teammateJoey Hand in the sister No. 66 Ford GT in fifth.[16] The GTD class was topped by the No. 96Turner MotorsportBMW M6 GT3 ofBill Auberlen with a time of 51.715.Toni Vilander was second fastest in the No. 63Scuderia Corsa Ferrari followed byDennis Olsen in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche in third position.[17] Marco Seefried's No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche was fourth fastest andMatt Campbell in the No. 91 Wright Motorsports Porsche rounded out the top five.[17]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Antonio García | 50.302 | _ |
| 2 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL | Connor De Phillippi | 50.320 | +0.018 |
| 3 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | Jesse Krohn | 30.467 | +0.165 |
| Sources:[18][19] | ||||||
The third and final practice session took place at 4:55 pmET Friday and ended withNick Tandy topping the charts forPorsche GT Team, with a lap time of 49.782.Laurens Vanthoor was second fastest in the sister No. 912 Porsche followed byRichard Westbrook in the No. 67Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entry.[20]Oliver Gavin was fourth fastest in the No. 4 Corvette andDirk Müller's No. 66 Ford GT rounded out the top five.[17] The GTD class was topped by the No. 48Paul Miller RacingLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo ofBryan 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 ofAndy Lally was fourth fastest andZacharie 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]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche GT Team | Nick Tandy | 49.782 | _ |
| 2 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche GT Team | Laurens Vanthoor | 49.938 | +0.156 |
| 3 | GTLM | 67 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Richard Westbrook | 50.314 | +0.582 |
| Sources:[23][24] | ||||||
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 forMeyer Shank Racing, beatingBen Keating in the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG by less than one-tenth of a second. The No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán ofCorey 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 byZacharie Robichon's No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche in fourth, and Richard Heistand's No. 12 Lexus in fifth position.[28]
The final session of qualifying was for cars in the GTLM class.Laurens Vanthoor qualified on pole driving the No. 912 car forPorsche GT Team, beating teammateNick Tandy in the sister No. 911 Porsche by 0.052 seconds.[29] Following in third wasConnor De Phillippi's No. 25 BMW followed byDirk Müller in the No. 66 Ford GT in fourth.[26][30] TheCorvette Racing entries started fifth and sixth followed byRyan Briscoe's No. 67 Ford GT in seventh position.[29]John Edwards in the No. 24BMW Team RLL entry rounded out the GTLM qualifiers.[29]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
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]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡.
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| IMSA SportsCar Championship | ||
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| Previous race: 2019 SportsCar Grand Prix | 2019 season | Next race: 2019 Road Race Showcase at Road America |
