This weekend, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship holds the first of two GT-only rounds at the 1.474-mile Lime Rock Park circuit in Connecticut. 25 cars from the GT Le Mans and GT Daytona classes will battle Saturday afternoon in the Northeast Grand Prix.
In the GT Le Mans class, there are eight entries. They are completely unchanged from the last round at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Two factory entries from Chevrolet, Ford, Porsche and BMW.
GT Daytona has 17 teams entered and a few changes of note. Firstly, The Racers Group has returned after a brief sabbatical. However, they are no longer fielding the Porsche 911 GT3 R from earlier this year. That car has reportedly been sold. Instead, the team’s venerable Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will come out to play once again, complete with body roll. James Davison and Brandon Davis will drive.
Alegra Motorsports was not originally on the entry list. However, a last-minute deal will see Porsche factory racer (and Pirelli World Challenge full-timer) Patrick Long join Daniel Morad in the No. 28 Porsche, replacing Michael de Quesada.
Alex Job Racing will make their first sprint race start of the season with longtime teammates Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler driving. It will be the first sprint race for the duo since Laguna Seca in May of last year in a second Change Racing entry.
Finally, Bret Curtis will not be in the No. 96 BMW M6 GT3 for Turner Motorsport this week. He will be replaced by Jesse Krohn, who has competed for the team at Daytona and Sebring earlier this year.
Entry List: 2017 Northeast Grand Prix
| Class | Team | Drivers | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| GT Daytona | 007 - The Racers Group | Brandon Davis James Davison | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 |
| GT Le Mans | 3 - Corvette Racing | Antonio Garcia Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| GT Le Mans | 4 - Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| GT Daytona | 14 - 3GT Racing | Sage Karam Scott Pruett | Lexus RCF GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 15 - 3GT Racing | Robert Alon Jack Hawksworth | Lexus RCF GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 16 - Change Racing | Corey Lewis Jeroen Mul | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 23 - Alex Job Racing | Townsend Bell Bill Sweedler | Audi R8 LMS GT3 |
| GT Le Mans | 24 - BMW Team RLL | John Edwards Martin Tomczyk | BMW M6 GTLM |
| GT Le Mans | 25 - BMW Team RLL | Bill Auberlen Alexander Sims | BMW M6 GTLM |
| GT Daytona | 33 - Riley Motorsports | Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 48 - Paul Miller Racing | Bryan Sellers Madison Snow | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 50 - Riley Motorsports/WeatherTech Racing | Gunnar Jeannette Cooper MacNeil | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 54 - CORE autosport | Jon Bennett Colin Braun | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| GT Daytona | 57 - Stevenson Motorsports | Lawson Aschenbach Andrew Davis | Audi R8 LMS GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 63 - Scuderia Corsa | Alessandro Balzan Christina Nielsen | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| GT Le Mans | 66 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Joey Hand Dirk Müller | Ford GT |
| GT Le Mans | 67 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook | Ford GT |
| GT Daytona | 73 - Park Place Motorspots | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| GT Daytona | 75 - SunEnergy1 Racing | Kenny Habul Tristan Vautier | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 86 - Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Oswaldo Negri Jr. Jeff Segal | Acura NSX GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 93 - Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Andy Lally Katherine Legge | Acura NSX GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 96 - Turner Motorsport | Jens Klingmann Jesse Krohn | BMW M6 GT3 |
| GT Le Mans | 911 - Porsche GT Team | Patrick Pilet Dirk Werner | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GT Le Mans | 912 - Porsche GT Team | Gianmaria Bruni Laurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR |
The Northeast Grand Prix is scheduled to start shortly after 3 p.m. on Saturday. It will air live on FOX Sports 2.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.