This weekend's Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park will not have much in common with the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, where Scuderia Corsa drivers Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell finished in fourth position in the team's Ferrari 458 Italia.
This Lime Rock Park circuit, at only 1.47 miles in length, is less than half the length of the fast and flowing Watkins Glen International. And while the Six Hours at the Glen was a six-hour test of endurance, the NorthEast Grand Prix will be a two hour and forty-minute contest - the shortest race of the season for the GT-Daytona class. And it comes at a pivotal point in the season championship as Scuderia Corsa is third in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship's GT-Daytona team championship standings with four races remaining in the season.
This race will mark the debut of the TUDOR Championship at Lime Rock Park, but the circuit has been a mainstay of sports car racing since holding its first race in 1957. Lime Rock Park is also the home circuit for Sweedler, who calls nearby Westport, Connecticut home.
"Lime Rock is my home track, and of course, my favorite place to race with all of the friends and family that will attend," said Sweedler. "The only time I ever smiled as I got passed happened at Lime Rock. During an open testing day on Tuesday, I was passed by the late, great Paul Newman in the downhill as he rocketed past me in his 900HP Nissan beast! The crowds are always big, and they really enjoy and appreciate sports car racing.
"Lime Rock is one of the only tracks that you have no time to rest. It's the closest thing to an oval for sports car racing. The Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 should be well suited for the fast, flowing nature of the track. I can't wait to get out on track this week!"
Unlike most of the TUDOR Championship events, the Northeast Grand Prix will only feature two classes of cars - the Prototype Challenge and GT-Daytona classes. However, with the high speeds of the circuit and the difficulty in passing, staying out of trouble remains the first priority for the drivers.
"Certainly, it is a challenge to stay out of trouble in a race at Lime Rock," said Bell. "There is very limited passing opportunities which is a big factor when you are battling for position, but also when the prototypes are coming up to lap us. With only the PC and GT-D classes this weekend, that isn't as big of an issue as normal, but it is still a small course with a high average speed so there will always be traffic to deal with."
The Northeast Grand Prix will be streamed live on Saturday, July 25 on IMSA.com and will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, July 26 at 5:00 PM ET. Qualifying will also be streamed live on Friday, July 24 at 5:15 PM ET.
Lime Rock Park Technical Analysis - Joe La Joie, engineer of the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia
The Lime Rock Park event is challenging on a couple of fronts.**First, there is only one left hand turn.**The left turn is the slowest turn with the other being high speed turns - third gear or faster.**Therefore, it can be beneficial to setup the car for right hand turns.**This could mean just standing the rights side camber up and adjusting the corner weight or running asymmetric springs and toe.
The second challenge is the track itself. It is short at 1.47 miles in length, busy, and it is difficult to*pass.**If you are off pace or get too far back from the leader you will most likely go a lap down at some point.**So, it is important to qualify well, and stay in contact with the leader or even better lead the race.**Pit stops will be important either to take the lead or stay close to the leaders.**The drivers need to keep up their momentum especially if they don't have an engine with an adequate power band.
About Scuderia Corsa:
The 2015 24Hours of Le Mans Podium and*2013 Grand-AM Rolex GT championship-winning team Scuderia Corsa was founded in 2011 by Giacomo Mattioli and Art Zafiropoulo.* The team was created for the sole purpose of supporting the racing needs of Ferrari clients and includes*turnkey programs, GT endurance racing, the North American Ferrari Challenge Series and track events.* Giacomo Mattioli is the owner of Ferrari Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and South Bay and partner in Ferrari Maserati Silicon Valley with Art Zafiropoulo.*
Follow Scuderia Corsa on Twitter @Scuderia_Corsa, on Facebook at Scuderia Corsa, Instagram at #Scuderiacorsaferrari and ScuderiaCorsa.com **
Team Sponsors:
Ferrari Beverly Hills / Los Angeles / Silicon Valley* / South Bay - North America's premiere Ferrari dealership group specializing in new and pre-owned sales, Classiche designation work, collision repair and factory trained service and original parts.*Robert Graham - with its retail presence in more than a dozen countries around the world including New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Dusseldorf, Robert Graham is 'American Eclectic.' Since its launch in 2001, it introduces sophisticated, eclectic style to the fashion market as an American-based company with an intention of inspiring a global movement and includes four menswear and women's wear collections a year-spring, pre-fall, fall and resort.*Royal Purple - Royal Purple manufactures high performance lubricants for most automotive, industrial, marine, motorcycle and racing applications. The Houston, TX based company is considered the best synthetic oil by many end users and its synthetic oil and synthetic lubricants are formulated to maximize performance in real world applications.*Kaspersky - Kaspersky Lab is the world's largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world's top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users1. Throughout its more than 17-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. With its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, Kaspersky Lab operates in almost 200 countries and territories, providing protection for over 400 million users worldwide.*Ferrari Palm Beach - Providing the exclusive Palm Beach market with a premium inventory of new and pre-owned Ferraris, state-of-the-art facilities and technicians for expert maintenance and repair. Wide World Ferrari - Located in Spring Valley, New York, offering Ferrari customers a premium selection of new and pre-owned Ferraris, expert authorized service and exclusive Ferrari certified body repair.*Hublot - A champion of innovation, Hublot revolutionized the watch industry with the introduction of the Big Bang, a multiple award winning timepiece created using a combination of precious metals with rubber. Since then, the Swiss brand has become universally known for the concept, "Art of Fusion." From in-house watch complications to world-class collaborations such as Ferrari and the Los Angeles Lakers, Hublot is constantly evolving and looking to the future.*Passtime -*Is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of wireless GPS telematics devices for the global automotive industry in the vehicle finance and fleet transportation sectors offering a web-based software portal with a complete end-to-end software solution designed specifically for the automotive industry. **Ultratech - A pioneer of laser processing, Ultratech designs, manufactures and markets photolithography and laser processing equipment.*
Technical Suppliers
Motegi Racing - through technical partnerships with leading professional racing teams, Motegi Racing Competition and High Performance Tuning wheels are designed and engineered for performance. Motegi Racing is a Wheel Pros brand. Wheel Pros products are sold worldwide in more than 20 countries on four continents and through a U.S. network of more than 10,000 active dealers.* Sabelt - leading manufacturer of seat belts and safety harnesses for production and racings cars, race suits, shoes and helmets, carbon seats for automobiles and child restraint systems worldwide. AllState - Allstate Roadside Services strives to provide the industry's best roadside experience for our partners, their customers and our service providers.
Source:
Scuderia Corsa
Races:
TUSC Lime Rock 2015