Jan Magnussen and teammate Antonio Garcia know their way to the podium at Lime Rock Park – their aim for this weekend’s Northeast Grand Prix is to climb onto the top step as a duo.
The pair has had strong showings in years past. Magnussen and Garcia finished runner-up in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2018. Magnussen has two wins at Lime Rock, 2008 with Corvette in ALMS competition and 2011 in Grand-Am.
Only the GTLM and GTD classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be tackling the incredibly short 1.474-mile “bullring”, giving the No. 3 C7.R the chance to battle for the overall victory in Connecticut.
Magnussen and co-driver Antonio Garcia are hoping a good result in the two-hour, 40-minute race at Lime Rock will catapult them back into the championship fight. Following Canada, the duo have fallen down to third in the standings, just 11 points behind the leading No. 912 duo.
First practice for the two-day weekend at Lime Rock Park kicks off Friday, July 19th at 11:25 am Eastern.
Qualifying will be held Saturday at 10:00 AM before the race goes green that afternoon at 3:10 PM.
Jan Magnussen Q&A
Q: After a disappointing result in Canada, how much do you want to win at Lime Rock Park?
A: “We haven’t won a race since VIR 2017, so at this point it’s definitely eating at us, but it’s super important that we do well this weekend to get back into the points fight.
“It’s not just how bad we want to win, it’s how much we need a good result here this weekend to keep our chances of three championships in a row, and four in a row for Corvette Racing alive.
“Plus, winning at Lime Rock is extra special because it’s just GT cars. Instead of winning in class, we can get the overall victory here at Lime Rock and that makes it even more special.
“I also want to win it for Antonio, I’ve won it with Corvette Racing before, back in 2008, but he hasn’t yet and we’ve come so close so many times. Hopefully at the end of the weekend he can add his name to the list of drivers that have won at Lime Rock for Corvette.”
Q: What are the challenges of a place like Lime Rock?
A: “The biggest challenge of Lime Rock is just the size of the place. It’s under a mile and a half, so even though there’s no prototype cars, you’re still battling traffic almost the entire lap. “It makes it super tricky to maintain position when you’re also battling through traffic, especially since Lime Rock is a proper old school track without much in the way of paved runoff. If you make a mistake here there are definitely consequences!”
Q: How do you shake off a weekend like Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and refocus going into this race?
A: “You just have to take it one race weekend at a time. The Corvette Racing team is so good at what they do that we never stay in a slump for long. Bad weekends happen to every team, and it’s how you pull yourself back up at the next one that really makes a great team, and a championship winning team.
“For me, I know that they will give me the best C7.R they absolutely can. It’s my job to be at my best going into the weekend. And then, hopefully both myself and Antonio can put in quick times and the car will be good in the race and we can get back in this championship fight!”
Source. Paul Ryan Media
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