2018 Northeast Grand Prix

The 2018 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 21, 2018. The race was the eighth round of the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Track map of Lime Rock Park

Background

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2017.[1] It was the fourth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the twenty-seventh annual running of the race.[2] The 2018 Northeast Grand Prix was the eighth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2018 by IMSA, and was the fifth round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.[2] The race was held at the seven-turn 1.530 mi (2.462 km) Lime Rock Park on July 21, 2018.[1] The race was the first of two GT-only rounds on the 2018 IMSA calendar, in which the prototype class, Prototype (P), would not be taking part.[2]

After the SportsCar Grand Prix 1 week earlier, Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 181 points, ahead of Antonio García and Jan Magnussen with 175 points, and Joey Hand and Dirk Müller with 173 points.[3] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 183 points, ahead of Katherine Legge with 180 points.[3] Ford and Lamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while the #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing led the GTLM Teams' Championship. Paul Miller Racing were leading the GTD Teams' Championship.[3]

On July 12, 2018, IMSA issued the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event.[4] In GTLM, The BMW M8 GTE received an increase in turbo boost and a fuel capacity increase of one liter. In GTD, the Lexus RC F GT3 and Mercedes AMG GT3 were given weight increases of 15 and 10 kilograms, respectively.

Entries

A total of 18 cars took part in the event split across 2 classes. 8 cars were entered in GTLM, and 10 in GTD.[5] In GTD, Wright Motorsports withdrew its #16 entry after Michael Schein had a scheduling conflict.[6] Mario Farnbacher replaced David Heinemeier Hansson in the #15 3GT Racing entry. Gunnar Jeannette returned to the #63 Scuderia Corsa entry.

Practice

There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, all three on Friday. The first one-hour session was on Friday morning while the second and third sessions were on Friday afternoon.[7]

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 11:25 am ET on Friday and ended with Dirk Müller topping the charts for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, with a lap time of 50.924.[8]

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap
1	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Dirk Müller	50.924	_
2	GTLM	911	Porsche GT Team	Nick Tandy	51.021	+0.097
3	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ryan Briscoe	51.080	+0.156
Source:[9]

Practice 2

The second practice session took place at 1:55 pm ET on Friday and ended with Antonio García topping the charts for Corvette Racing, with a lap time of 50.939.[10]

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap
1	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Antonio García	50.939	_
2	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Joey Hand	51.001	+0.062
3	GTLM	912	Porsche GT Team	Laurens Vanthoor	51.118	+0.179
Source:[11]

Practice 3

The third and final practice session took place at 4:55 pm ET on Friday and ended with Nick Tandy topping the charts for Porsche GT Team, with a lap time of 50.414.[12]

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap
1	GTLM	911	Porsche GT Team	Nick Tandy	50.414	_
2	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Dirk Müller	50.879	+0.465
3	GTLM	24	BMW Team RLL	Jesse Krohn	50.934	+0.520
Source:[13]

Qualifying

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap	Grid
1	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Antonio García	49.754	_	1‡
2	GTLM	912	Porsche GT Team	Laurens Vanthoor	49.920	+0.166	2
3	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Dirk Müller	49.945	+0.191	3
4	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Tommy Milner	50.048	+0.294	4
5	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ryan Briscoe	50.106	+0.352	5
6	GTLM	24	BMW Team RLL	John Edwards	50.285	+0.531	6
7	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Connor De Phillippi	50.385	+0.631	7
8	GTLM	911	Porsche GT Team	Patrick Pilet	50.656	+0.902	8
9	GTD	58	Wright Motorsports	Patrick Long	51.491	+1.737	9‡
10	GTD	14	3GT Racing	Dominik Baumann	51.628	+1.874	10
11	GTD	15	3GT Racing	Jack Hawksworth	51.705	+1.951	11
12	GTD	48	Paul Miller Racing	Bryan Sellers	51.838	+2.084	12
13	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Cooper MacNeil	51.848	+2.094	13
14	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Bill Auberlen	51.884	+2.130	14
15	GTD	93	Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin	Lawson Aschenbach	51.989	+2.235	15
16	GTD	33	Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport	Ben Keating	51.989	+2.235	18¹
17	GTD	86	Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin	Katherine Legge	52.137	+2.383	16
18	GTD	44	Magnus Racing	John Potter	52.680	+2.926	17
Sources:[14][15]

¹ The No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport entry was moved to the back of the GTD field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.

Race

Post-race

As a result of winning the race, Hand and Müller took the lead of the GTLM Drivers' Championship. Briscoe and Westbrook dropped from first to third while Bamber and Vanthoor advanced from fifth to fourth.[16] The result kept Sellers and Snow atop the GTD Drivers' Championship with 218 points, 10 points ahead of Legge.[16] Ford, and Lamborghini continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Paul Miller Racing kept their advantage in the GTD Teams' Championship. The #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entry took the lead of the GTLM Teams' Championship with four rounds remaining.[16]

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Final race classification
Pos	Class	No.	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tire	Laps	Time/Retired
Pos	Class	No.	Team	Drivers	Engine	Tire	Laps	Time/Retired
1	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Joey Hand Dirk Müller	Ford GT	M	178	2:40.12.527‡
1	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Joey Hand Dirk Müller	Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6	M	178	2:40.12.527‡
2	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Antonio García Jan Magnussen	Chevrolet Corvette C7.R	M	178	+11.431
2	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Antonio García Jan Magnussen	Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8	M	178	+11.431
3	GTLM	912	Porsche GT Team	Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor	Porsche 911 RSR	M	178	+13.601
3	GTLM	912	Porsche GT Team	Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	M	178	+13.601
4	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner	Chevrolet Corvette C7.R	M	178	+37.964
4	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner	Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8	M	178	+37.964
5	GTLM	911	Porsche GT Team	Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy	Porsche 911 RSR	M	178	+40.949
5	GTLM	911	Porsche GT Team	Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	M	178	+40.949
6	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook	Ford GT	M	178	+45.063
6	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook	Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6	M	178	+45.063
7	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Connor De Phillippi Alexander Sims	BMW M8 GTE	M	176	+2 Laps
7	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Connor De Phillippi Alexander Sims	BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8	M	176	+2 Laps
8	GTD	48	Paul Miller Racing	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	Lamborghini Huracán GT3	C	172	+6 Laps‡
8	GTD	48	Paul Miller Racing	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	Lamborghini 5.2 L V10	C	172	+6 Laps‡
9	GTD	44	Magnus Racing	John Potter Andy Lally	Audi R8 LMS	C	172	+6 Laps
9	GTD	44	Magnus Racing	John Potter Andy Lally	Audi 5.2L V10	C	172	+6 Laps
10	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Cooper MacNeil Gunnar Jeannette	Ferrari 488 GT3	C	172	+6 Laps
10	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Cooper MacNeil Gunnar Jeannette	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	C	172	+6 Laps
11	GTD	86	Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin	Katherine Legge Álvaro Parente	Acura NSX GT3	C	172	+6 Laps
11	GTD	86	Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin	Katherine Legge Álvaro Parente	Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6	C	172	+6 Laps
12	GTD	15	3GT Racing	Jack Hawksworth Mario Farnbacher	Lexus RC F GT3	C	172	+6 Laps
12	GTD	15	3GT Racing	Jack Hawksworth Mario Farnbacher	Lexus 5.0L V8	C	172	+6 Laps
13	GTD	33	Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport	Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating	Mercedes AMG GT3	C	171	+7 Laps
13	GTD	33	Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport	Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating	Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8	C	171	+7 Laps
14	GTD	14	3GT Racing	Dominik Baumann Kyle Marcelli	Lexus RC F GT3	C	171	+7 Laps
14	GTD	14	3GT Racing	Dominik Baumann Kyle Marcelli	Lexus 5.0L V8	C	171	+7 Laps
15	GTD	58	Wright Motorsports	Patrick Long Christina Nielsen	Porsche 911 GT3 R	C	171	+7 Laps
15	GTD	58	Wright Motorsports	Patrick Long Christina Nielsen	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	C	171	+7 Laps
16	GTLM	24	BMW Team RLL	John Edwards Jesse Krohn	BMW M8 GTE	M	129	Did Not Finish
16	GTLM	24	BMW Team RLL	John Edwards Jesse Krohn	BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8	M	129	Did Not Finish
17	GTD	93	Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin	Justin Marks Lawson Aschenbach	Acura NSX GT3	C	1	Did Not Finish
17	GTD	93	Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin	Justin Marks Lawson Aschenbach	Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6	C	1	Did Not Finish
18	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Robby Foley Bill Auberlen	BMW M6 GT3	C	0	Did Not Finish
18	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Robby Foley Bill Auberlen	BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8	C	0	Did Not Finish
Source:[17]

Tyre manufacturers
Key
Symbol	Tyre manufacturer
C	Continental
M	Michelin

Standings after the race

Prototype Drivers' Championship standings[16]
Pos.	Driver	Points
1	Eric Curran Felipe Nasr	198
2	Filipe Albuquerque	197
3	Jordan Taylor Renger van der Zande	188
4	Jon Bennett Colin Braun	183
5	Dane Cameron Juan Pablo Montoya	177

GTLM Drivers' Championship standings[16]
Pos.	+/–	Driver	Points
1	1	Joey Hand Dirk Müller	208
2		Antonio García Jan Magnussen	207
3	2	Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook	206
4	1	Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor	197
5	1	Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner	195

GTD Drivers' Championship standings[16]
Pos.	+/–	Driver	Points
1		Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	218
2		Katherine Legge	208
3		Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating	194
4		Cooper MacNeil	179
5	1	Álvaro Parente	173

Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Teams' Championship standings[16]
Pos.	+/–	Team	Points
1		No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing	198
2		No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing	197
3	3	No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing	188
4		No. 54 CORE Autosport	183
5		No. 6 Acura Team Penske	177

GTLM Teams' Championship standings[16]
Pos.	+/–	Team	Points
1	1	No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	208
2		No. 3 Corvette Racing	207
3	2	No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	206
4	1	No. 912 Porsche GT Team	197
5	1	No. 4 Corvette Racing	195

GTD Teams' Championship standings[16]
Pos.	Team	Points
1	No. 48 Paul Miller Racing	218
2	No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin	208
3	No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports	194
4	No. 63 Scuderia Corsa	179
5	No. 15 3GT Racing	173

Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Manufacturers' Championship standings[16]
Pos.	Manufacturer	Points
1	Cadillac	234
2	Acura	222
3	Mazda	210
4	Nissan	209

GTLM Manufacturers' Championship standings[16]
Pos.	Manufacturer	Points
1	Ford	230
2	Chevrolet	219
3	Porsche	216
4	BMW	204
5	Ferrari	58

GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings[16]
Pos.	Manufacturer	Points
1	Lamborghini	225
2	Acura	209
3	Mercedes-AMG	200
4	Lexus	198
5	Ferrari	192

Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References

Goodwin, Graham (August 6, 2017). "IMSA Announce 2018 Calendar". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
Pruett, Marshall (August 4, 2017). "IMSA's 2018 WeatherTech calendar released". racer.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
"00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 10, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
Dagys, John (July 12, 2018). "Lexus, Mercedes-AMG Hit With Weight Increases for Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
Dagys, John (July 11, 2018). "18 Entries for Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
Dagys, John (July 20, 2018). "No. 16 Wright Porsche Withdrawn from Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
"Continental Tire Keys to the Race: Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
Dagys, John (July 20, 2018). "Mueller Tops Opening Practice at Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
"03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
Dagys, John (July 20, 2018). "Garcia, Corvette Quickest in Practice 2". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
"03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
Dagys, John (July 20, 2018). "Porsche Paces Friday at Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
"03_Results_Practice 3.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
"03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
"01_Starting Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 21, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
"00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
"03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 21, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[2018IMSASchedule-1] Goodwin, Graham (August 6, 2017). "IMSA Announce 2018 Calendar". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.

[:0-2] Pruett, Marshall (August 4, 2017). "IMSA's 2018 WeatherTech calendar released". racer.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.

[:1-3] "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 10, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.

[4] Dagys, John (July 12, 2018). "Lexus, Mercedes-AMG Hit With Weight Increases for Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[5] Dagys, John (July 11, 2018). "18 Entries for Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[6] Dagys, John (July 20, 2018). "No. 16 Wright Porsche Withdrawn from Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[7] "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.

[8] Dagys, John (July 20, 2018). "Mueller Tops Opening Practice at Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[9] "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[10] Dagys, John (July 20, 2018). "Garcia, Corvette Quickest in Practice 2". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[11] "03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[12] Dagys, John (July 20, 2018). "Porsche Paces Friday at Lime Rock". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[13] "03_Results_Practice 3.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[14] "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[15] "01_Starting Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 21, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[:2-16] "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.

[17] "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 21, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

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