The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship continues on to the seventh round of GTD competition this weekend as Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) heads to Lime Rock Park for the Northeast Grand Prix with a two car Acura NSX GT3 line up.
Running just on the tails of the GTD championship leaders, the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 will return to competition for the remainder of the 2018 season in hopes of capturing the team’s first ever championship title.
The Detroit-winning entry will be co-driven by Katherine Legge and Alvaro Parente in the Lime Rock Park event. The No. 86 entry will be accompanied by the sister No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 car piloted by Lawson Aschenbach and Justin Marks.
After overcoming balance issues at the previous outing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Meyer Shank Racing is looking to top its two podium finishes at Lime Rock Park (second place – 2011 & 2013) this weekend.
Having enjoyed success on the short 1.5-mil circuit behind the wheel of a variety of race machines, Aschenbach is eager to return to Lime Rock Park. The American racer has wins in both ALMS (2013) and World Challenge (2016) competition at the Connecticut track.
“Lime Rock is going to be an extremely tough race because it’s a fast track that’s short and narrow with close-quarters racing,” said Aschenbach. “Its nickname is the Bull Ring for a reason. There will be contact, beating and banging but the key there is to remain mentally level-headed. If you manage to do that then you’ll have a solid finish because it really caters to those who will stay on track and out of the pits which is a tough thing to do at that place. I am really excited to go there for an all GT show, I think that’s the true form of sports cars. We will see if we can get this Acura up front.”
Co-driving alongside Aschenbach is Marks, who’s last outing in 2006 at Lime Rock resulted in a fourth place finish.
“Lime Rock is one of the tracks on the schedule that I will have to relearn during the first practice session,” said Marks. “I am looking forward to it since it is a classic American racing circuit. It’s a nice place to go visit and the team will be looking forward to Lime Rock. There is no reason we can’t be competitive and be in contention for the win there.”
After recently announcing its commitment to entering the final four races of the IMSA season, the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 will return with the power duo of Legge and Parente. Scoring a top five finish last year behind the wheel of the MSR Acura NSX, Legge will utilize that knowledge to propel her forward at this year’s event.
“It’s really great that we have the program set in place for all of the races so that we can put our full focus on the championship,” said Legge. “Between Alvaro (Parente) and I think we can have a good result this weekend.”
Locking in five podium finishes over the course of his last three outings at Lime Rock Park including two World Challenge wins in 2016, Parente is hoping to put that same aggressive pace towards this weekend’s IMSA event.
“This track is a really fun track to race at,” said Parente. “I have raced there a bunch over the last few years so I am feeling pretty confident heading into the weekend. The Acura has shown great pace so far this season and hopefully we can continue that this weekend.”
The Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park will go green this Saturday, July 21st at 3:10 p.m. ET
Source. Sunday Group
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