(July 24, 2010) — Luke Hines and Bryce Miller led the GTC class and combined for their third-consecutive fifth-place finish (Miller’s fourth of the season) during a steamy American Le Mans Series race at Lime Rock Park on Saturday. Hines, of Essex, England, joined local driver Miller, of Summit, N.J., for the two-hour 45-minute race on the 1.51-mile road course in Lakeville, Conn. They raced the ORBIT No. 48 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car with the support of a large group of guests representing their sponsors Marquis Jet, Grand Prix Racewear, IPC Systems and TOTAL Lubricants.
Hines started sixth on the GTC grid, but quickly moved to second in class. He took the class lead after 35 minutes, then pitted for a driver change 10 minutes later. Miller returned to the track third and held the position through his 58-minute stint. Hines also held third until the final minutes of the race, when contact with a prototype car knocked him off course and out of the race. The pair finished fifth in class.
Luke Hines: “We had a good weekend – we showed that Bryce and I had the pace. The race started off really good. I started sixth and got through to first with some quite cool moves. It was hard for us because the inside of the car got too hot physically, but I just wanted a finish for the whole team, I didn’t want to quit. It’s frustrating that we crashed out at the end, with eight minutes to go. I felt a hit from an LMP [prototype] car and went wide and hit the tires in the chicane. But I was really pleased with the support of everyone here – all the big sponsors came in and supported us.”
Bryce Miller: “We had a good car today. Luke did a really good job to bring it from sixth position all the way up to the lead. I was really happy to have our sponsors here today, and also to put on a bit of a show and lead the race was good for the brands that we’re representing. It was such a hot day, so it was nice to see the number of people who were here supporting us. We’re very appreciative for their support and hope to bring them a podium result very soon. We’re a young team and there’s still room for improvement, but I think we all feel confident that the speed is there.”
race report
time driver action
start Hines
35m Hines GTC leader
45m change pit – Miller in, four tires, fuel
1h43 change pit – Hines in, four tires, fuel
2h37 Hines off track turn 7, out of race
partners
Bryce Miller and Luke Hines compete with the support of four international sponsors. Marquis Jet is the recognized leader in private jet cards because it’s the only program that offers exclusive access to NetJets – the gold standard in private aviation – 25 hours at a time. Grand Prix Racewear is a respected supplier of motorsport protective clothing and driver accessories, based at Silverstone Circuit in England. The company offers worldwide delivery of 15,000 product lines. IPC Information Systems is a leading provider of mission-critical communications solutions to financial services firms. TOTAL Lubricants is the world’s fourth-largest publicly traded integrated international oil and gas company.
– www.paulmillerracing.com, http://www.lukehinesracing.com/ –
