RACE: Round 8 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
TRACK: At 1.5-miles, the Lime Rock Park bullring is the shortest circuit on the 2017 IMSA calendar.
DRIVERS:
No. 86 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3: Ozz Negri, Jeff Segal
No. 93 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3: Andy Lally, Katherine Legge
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
No. 93 Acura NSX GT3: 3rd with 179 points
No. 86 Acura NSX GT3: 8th with 152 points
Michael Shank Racing’s recent results have not only boosted the team’s rank in the championship standings, but has also put Acura right in the thick of the manufacturer’s championship battle. Acura is just four points out of the manufacturer’s championship lead.
1. Ferrari — 212 points
2. Mercedes-AMG — 211 points
3. Acura — 208 points
A LOOK AT MSR LIME ROCK PARK HISTORY: The 2017 event will mark Michael Shank Racing’s first race at Lime Rock Park since the 2013 Rolex Series finale in 2013. Prototypes haven’t raced at Lime Rock since that year, so now competing as a GTD team, Michael Shank Racing returns. Though the team hasn’t had the opportunity to race at the track as much as others in the category, Michael Shank Racing has a strong record at the track having picked up two runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2013 as well as a third place podium result in 2010.
Michael Shank Racing finished runner-up in its most recent visit to the track in 2013 with Gustavo Yacaman and the late Justin Wilson in the team’s No. 6 Daytona Prototype.
2010: Started 7th Finished 3rd Brian Frisselle, Michael Valiante (DP)
2010: Started 11th Finished 7th John Pew, Ozz Negri (DP)
2011: Started 6th Finished 2nd John Pew, Ozz Negri (DP)
2012: Started 8th Finished 10th John Pew, Ozz Negri (DP)
2013: Started 9th Finished 6th John Pew, Ozz Negri (DP)
2013: Started 4th Finished 2nd Gustavo Yacaman, Justin Wilson (DP)
LIME ROCK PODIUM – A FAMILIAR SIGHT: All four Michael Shank Racing drivers have sprayed the podium champagne at Lime Rock with a cumulative five wins and nine podiums.
LIME ROCK DRIVER HIGHLIGHTS:
Ozz Negri: Negri stood on the podium with a second place finish in 2011 while racing in the Prototype ranks for Michael Shank Racing.
Jeff Segal: Segal has made several starts at Lime Rock Park with a best IMSA WeatherTech finish of third in 2010. He won a Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (formerly KONI Challenge) race driving a BMW M3 in the GS class at the track in 2008. It was his first professional race win.
Andy Lally: Having grown up in Northport, New York, Lime Rock Park can be considered one of Lally’s home tracks where he has an extensive amount of experience. Lally has four class wins (2001, 2006, 2010, 2016) at the track as well as an additional podium result of second (2004).
Katherine Legge: Legge has made one start at Lime Rock Park in which she stood on the podium in third, driving the DeltaWing Racing Prototype in the American Le Mans Series (2013).
NEW FOR 2017: In addition to the brand new cars and drivers in the Michael Shank Racing stable, the team has also added seven additional team members for the two car-effort. New for 2017 is Michael Shank Racing General Manager Tim Keene, who spent time in a management role at DeltaWing Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing.
Source. Sunday Group
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