LAKEVILLE, Connecticut (July 23, 2015) – Paul Miller Racing returns to a familiar for the first time with its No. 48 Castrol EDGE Audi R8 LMS, and drivers Christopher Haase and Dion von Moltke, for this weekend’s IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.
The two-hour and 40-minute Northeast Grand Prix goes green this Saturday, July 25, at 3:15 p.m. EDT. IMSA.com and the IMSA app will stream in-car cameras, live timing and scoring and broadcast IMSA Radio’s play-by-play throughout the race. The full race will air in next-day coverage on FOX Sports 1, Sunday, July 26, from 5 – 7:30 p.m. EDT.
Lime Rock was not on last year’s inaugural IMSA TUDOR Championship schedule but was a welcome 2015 addition to the calendar for the Paul Miller Racing team.
Paul Miller Racing comes to Lime Rock, the sixth of 10 races on the 2015 GT Daytona (GTD) schedule, with podium finishes in the last three IMSA TUDOR Championship GTD rounds at Watkins Glen (3rd), Detroit (3rd) and Laguna Seca (2nd).
The No. 48 Audi team also has an unmatched run of six-straight top-five finishes, dating back to a victory in 2014’s season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
“It is difficult to gauge our chances for Lime Rock, we have never raced there with our car, but we have a strong team. We will just do the same things we have done all year,” Haase said.
This year’s Northeast Grand Prix is a feature event for just the GTD and Prototype Challenge (PC) classes, but that is plenty of cars for Lime Rock. At just 1.5-miles in length with only seven turns, Lime Rock is the shortest track on the IMSA TUDOR Championship schedule, but it never fails to deliver big thrills.
“Lime Rock is an extremely difficult track to race on due to the short track length and the limited passing opportunities,” von Moltke said. “It has been a couple of years since we have raced at Lime Rock and I am really looking forward to going back. The ability to have the car work well when closely following other cars is vital. To be alone for even two corners at Lime Rock is a rarity, there is always traffic and you are always battling someone.”
In addition to the team’s debut with No. 48 Audi, Haase will be making his first start at Lime Rock. A factory Audi Sport customer racing driver from Germany, Haase is in his second season with Paul Miller Racing.
“Yes, it’s a new one for me, the only one this year,” Haase said. “I have already looked at some onboard videos, but my main preparation is on my simulator. It is very important to get just kind of a feeling for a track into you before you go racing there, but in reality it is always bit more difficult.”
A well-handling car makes Lime Rock even more enjoyable for competitors.
“The track requires a car to be very good on traction and well supported at high speed, particularly when we go through the downhill onto the front straight,” von Moltke said. “You also need a car that works well in the dirty air of other cars when running close together. I believe the Audi does well in these areas. If we can keep the car clean and just keep logging laps I think we can get a good result this weekend!”
A two-day event, the IMSA TUDOR Championship schedule gets underway tomorrow, Friday, July 24, with opening practice at 11:35 a.m. EDT. Qualifying begins later that afternoon at 5:15 p.m. EDT and airs live on IMSA.com and the IMSA App. Race-day Saturday starts with a 15-minute warm-up at 11:25 a.m. EDT before the 3:15 p.m. EDT start time for the Northeast Grand Prix.
Paul Miller Racing, and Haase and von Moltke, head to Lime Rock as the IMSA TUDOR Championship GTD leaders. Both the No 48 and its drivers have 149 points in both the team and driver championships, 10 points ahead of the second-place competitors.
