Lakeville, Conn. – After a busy day full of changing weather and track conditions at Lime Rock Park, including an early onslaught of rain during their quick 15-minute qualifying session, all three Competition Motorsport Porsche machines will start Saturday’s races in the top-10 of their class. In the Platinum Class, Michael Lewis will begin Race 1 from the fourth position tomorrow in his No. 98 Competition Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian Porsche 911. In the Gold Glass, Fred Poordad and his No. 02 Affinity Motorsports/TLI/Competition Motorsports will begin sixth and Blair Chang will start ninth in the No. 9 The Agency/Competition Motorsports Porsche 911.
The day began with a distinct chill in the air and then progressed to a warm and sunny afternoon and Lewis, Poordad, and Chang adapted to the changing track conditions to run consistently strong among the top-10 throughout each session. During qualifying, the forecasted rain for Lime Rock Park came early, forcing the drivers to quickly post their laps in the slick conditions.
The team is prepared to take on the 1.50-mile circuit tomorrow, rain or shine as conditions look to be similarly tricky for the fifth and sixth races of the IMSA GT3 Cup USA presented by Yokohama series. The green flag is set to drop for the first race at 12:35 PM (ET) and the second race just a few hours later at 5:10 PM (ET).
DRIVER QUOTES:
Michael Lewis, No. 98 Competition Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian Porsche 911 – “Wow, that was a pretty crazy and frantic session, but it was a lot of fun! I just went out there to do all that I could and the guys gave me a great car. So I was doing what I could and having fun working my way through traffic just hoping to lay down a fast lap. The guys were on the radio just telling me to do what I could, so I got a good lap, good enough for the first two rows, and then came in. I’m happy with it and looking forward to the races tomorrow.”
Fred Poordad, No. 02 Affinity Motorsports/TLI/Competition Motorsports – “So qualifying was hampered by a little bit of early rain, so I had a couple of good laps. Unfortunately I got caught up in traffic a little bit and didn’t get quite as clean of a lap as I wanted. But no excuses, the car felt really good and the team put a really good car under me. I’m hoping that tomorrow I can make those positions up during the race. If it rains from the outset of the race then we are all on the same page on equal footing but if it starts to rain or vice versa and we have to come in and change tires then it’s going to get a bit tricky.”
Blair Chang, No. 9 The Agency/Competition Motorsports Porsche 911 – “It’s been a bit of a difficult and disappointing weekend for me so far, actually. It seems like I just can’t quite get enough momentum and get a good run in. I got a few laps in during practice, but then I got hit from behind and that kind of messed things up and then qualifying was a bit crazy with the rain and everything. But the car feels pretty good and the guys have been working really hard, so we will see what happens in the race tomorrow. And honestly, I’m just hoping it rains the whole time tomorrow. That way we are all on an even playing field the whole time.”