Race Weekend Central

Àlvaro Parente Claims Lime Rock GT SprintX Race No. 1 Pole

K-PAX Racing’s Àlvaro Parente swept the weekend at Lime Rock in 2016 and he’s completed the first step to repeating that by winning the overall pole for GT SprintX Race No. 1.  Parente’s lap of 51.675 seconds (102.688 mph) is the fastest lap of the weekend.

Parente was very happy with his lap, but already had Monday on his mind after the session.

“It’s going to be a really tough two races here on Monday,” Parente said after qualifying.  “If it’s this hot, then [tire] degradation is going to be key [and] strategy is going to be key.  Fingers crossed that I have a good start [and] save the tires a little bit.”

Parente’s lap was eight-hundredths of a second faster than Lone Star Racing’s Mike Skeen in second.  CRP Racing’s Raffaele Marciello, who was fastest in Happy Hour, qualified his Mercedes in third.  R. Ferri Motorsport’s Toni Vilander will start fourth in his Ferrari, while Alegra Motorsports’ Spencer Pumpelly (fastest on Friday) was fifth.

In GT Pro-Am, K-PAX Racing’s No. 3 Bentley has been slowed slightly by the addition of weight.  Despite the extra weight, Rodrigo Baptista was still fast enough to claim the class pole with a lap of 52.269 seconds (101.521 mph).

Baptista’s lap was nearly a half-second faster than the Audi of TruSpeed AutoSport’s Parker Chase.  TR3 Racing’s Wei Lu was another tenth of a second back in third, followed by Dream Racing Motorsport’s Yuki Harata.

PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE GRAND PRIX OF LIME ROCK POWERED BY M GT SPRINTX QUALIFYING RESULTS

Due to the local ordinances that Lime Rock Park is governed by, there will be no racing on Sunday.  GT SprintX Race No. 1 is scheduled to go green at 11:25 a.m. ET Monday morning.  The race will be streamed live at World-Challenge.com.

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.

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