Lime Rock Qualifying Rained Out

Steady rain on Friday afternoon at Lime Rock Park prompted Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge officials to cancel qualifying for Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix. The grids for the separate, two-and-a-half-hour races for the Street Tuner (ST) and Grand Sport (GS) classes will be set according to the point standings, in accordance with the IMSA rule book.

That puts the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 of John Edwards and Trent Hindman on the GS pole, while the No. 26 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 of Randy Pobst and Andrew Carbonell will lead the ST grid. The Street Tuner (ST) event begins at 9:10 a.m. ET, followed by the GS race at 2:15 p.m.

Fall-Line Motorsports will start from the GS pole for the third consecutive race. While Hindman captured back-to-back TOTAL Pole Awards for the races at Sebring International Raceway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Edwards will start the car on Saturday. The pair won at Mazda Raceway after opening the year with runner-up finishes at Daytona and Sebring.

“I would have rather gone for it in qualifying, but it is what it is,” Edwards said. “We had a good car in practice, and I think we would have been competitive. It’s going to be nice starting up front if it rains tomorrow instead of being caught up in the middle of traffic, but getting the pole is always more rewarding when you run for it.”

Edwards will be joined on the front row by Kris Wilson in the No. 07 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Wilson will co-drive with Peter Ludwig of nearby New Paltz, N.Y. Ludwig is standing in for Wilson’s regular co-driver, Max Riddle, who is not available to compete this weekend. Lucas Bize will start third in the No. 78 Racers Edge Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302R. Bize’s co-driver is David Levine.

Back-to-back victories at Sebring and Mazda Raceway put Freedom Autosport in the ST point lead, and also on the pole for Saturday’s race. Pobst is scheduled to start the No. 26 Mazda MX-5.

“I love driving in the rain, and I think our Mazda MX-5 would have been fast in the wet,” said Pobst. “We’re in the points lead because of the work of our team, the reliability of Mazda and Andrew Carbonell’s driving. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow, and will be looking to get back on top of the podium.”

Tyler Cooke will start second in the ST race aboard the No. 81 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i he shares with Gregory Liefooghe. Chad McCumbee will start third in the No. 5 CJ Wilson Racing Mazda MX-5. McCumbee’s co-driver is Stevan McAleer.

LINEUP: GS Race
LINEUP: ST Race