Lime Rock Friday Notebook

***By scoring the pole for Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, Porsche newcomer Gimmi Bruni gave the German manufacturer its 450th pole position in major North American sports car competition, extending the marque’s lead to 100 over Chevrolet.

***Paul Miller Racing’s pole position in GT Daytona for Lamborghini marked the first repeat pole winner for a manufacturer in the 2017 season. Madison Snow was the nominated driver this weekend at Lime Rock, while co-driver Bryan Sellers scored previous pole in the No. 48 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 at Long Beach.

***The only major incident of the day on Saturday came in Practice 2 when the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 of Patrick Lindsey made contact with the No. 54 CORE autosport Porsche, which spun but continued on. Lindsey, meanwhile, limped his car back to the garage with apparent suspension damage, but the team found only a broken tie rod which was quickly repaired. Lindsey went on to qualify sixth in GTD.

***It has been a busy stretch for Corvette Racing after the previous race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. A heavy crash for the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R at CTMP necessitated major work to get the car ready for this weekend. Repairs included the replacement of the entire front-right corner including components and bodywork, the steering rack, diffuser, rear wing, and changing a chassis tube due to a crease. Amazingly, there were no other cracks or damage to the frame

***The location of James Davison’s return to the TRG lineup this weekend at Lime Rock is a fitting one, according to team owner Kevin Buckler. “This is where we met,” he told Sportscar365. “I had an opening in my car, and we needed a fast driver. I had never heard of the guy. It started a three-year relationship with us and got him into sports car racing for sure. Any time I can help like that it’s good. He always works hard for us.”

***Davison and co-driver Brandon Davis will start start 10th in the 17-car GTD field on Saturday.

***Both BMW Team RLL and Michael Shank Racing have retained their special “Fourth of July” liveries that debuted in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen earlier this month.

Who's ready for some #tacopower this weekend at @limerockpark ?? pic.twitter.com/rw5t9MDEkA

— Turner Motorsport (@Turnermotrsport) July 19, 2017

***Turner Motorsport, meanwhile, debuted a unique paint scheme with the word “Tacos” replacing “Turner” on the door of the No. 96 BMW M6 GT3. Team owner Will Turner is a noted taco connoisseur.

***Lime Rock Park track record holder PJ Jones will be the Grand Marshall for the race. The son of motorsports legend Parnelli Jones, PJ set the course record of 43.112 seconds in 1993 in his All American Racers Toyota Eagle MkIII IMSA Camel GTP machine, an average speed of nearly 130 miles per hour.

***Lime Rock has become a home track for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ryan Briscoe. The native of Sydney, Australia now calls Farmington, Conn. home, a 33-mile drive from the circuit.

***It is also a home race for Paul Miller Racing, which is based in New Jersey. Paul Miller has about 40 dealership employees at the event to support the team.

***Additionally, Anthony Florio, the fan who presented Bryan Sellers with the 2015 Watkins Glen trophy he purchased via the Walker Racing Auction, is back at this event. He and his brother were gifted hot laps on Lime Rock Park as a thank you, courtesy of IMSA Communications.

***TV coverage in the U.S. this weekend will be at 3 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 2. International viewers can stream the race at IMSA.tv with commentary from IMSA Radio.

***Check out Andy Blackmore’s event Spotter Guide with updated lineups and liveries for the WeatherTech Championship and Continental Tire Challenge here.