Heading into this weekend’s Grand-Am GT Classic at Lime Rock Park, Round 6 of the 14-race 2007 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve for the GT class, here are some pre-race notes, story angles and interesting trends to follow:
STREAKS: In the GT class, there has been at least one Porsche on the GT podium in the last 11 Rolex Series events… Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham have teamed to win two of the last four GT class races… Farnbacher Loles Motorsports teammates Bryce Miller and Dirk Werner have finished on the podium in the last two races… Two teams of drivers have posted top 10s in all four GT class races, with Ham and Tremblay won two of the first three races and finished no worse than seventh in their first five starts. The seventh-place result came last weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins have a best finish of second (Daytona), and are currently tied for fourth in the GT point standings.
LIME ROCK LOCALS: Ten drivers from the tri-state area are entered for the Grand-Am GT Classic at Lime Rock Park, with only one driver from Connecticut is scheduled to compete and many drivers from the New York and Massachusetts ready to tackle the 1.53-mile track. Tom Nastasi of Stamford will compete in the No. 15 USG Sheetrock/Guardian Insulation Mustang Cobra GT, sharing the ride with Canadian Alex Tagliani. Six drivers from The Empire State are competing, including No. 36 Competition Marking Motorsports Pontiac GTO co-driver Manny Matz (Somers), car owner/driver of the Team Sahlen HRPworld.com Pontiac GTO Joe Sahlen (Elma), No. 69 SpeedSource FXDD Mazda RX-8 teammates Emil Assentato (Locust Valley) and Nick Longhi (Nyack) and No. 74 Tafel Racing Rembrandt Charms Porsche GT3 co-driver Eric Lux (Williamsville). Northport, N.Y. native Andy Lally in the No. 66 TRG CRG/Maxter Porsche GT3, who co-drove in last weekend’s GT class race win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, will again be paired with Massachusetts co-driver RJ Valentine (Braintree), and their? Massachusetts teammate, Mark Greenberg (Jamaica Plain), will co-drive the No. 67 TRG NETTTS/Louis Boston Porsche GT3 with Virginian Spencer Pumpelly.
MILESTONES: This will be the third straight weekend for the Rolex Series GT class will run on its own, as the series competed on its own at Virginia International Raceway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and will headline this weekend’s festivities. Farnbacher Loles Motorsports’ two-car team has led 45 percent of the 976 laps contested in GT action this season, but has only one victory in five rounds.
