Lime Rock Friday Notebook

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

***Julien Andlauer has been drafted into the No. 92 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 911 GT3 R this weekend alongside Alec Udell. The Frenchman is racing in place of David Brule for the second WeatherTech Sprint Cup race this season following his outing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May. “We knew for a bit that David might not be able to attend this one,” said Bill Riley. “Julien is a great, simple choice to sub for him.”

***The No. 23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 is a new chassis this weekend following Ross Gunn’s accident that was triggered by the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Jules Gounon at the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park two weeks ago.

***Team principal Ian James told Sportscar365: “It wasn’t an on-the-button car but it was 80 percent ready so we just had to build the rest of it up as we would have done pre-race. It was a lot of work for the guys but it wasn’t overly ambitious by any means. A lot of components get switched between the cars, so it’s a pretty normal thing.”

***The car’s first mileage came during Friday’s track action, which saw Gunn set the eighth quickest time overall, third in GTD Pro, in the opening practice session, prior to the Englishman claiming pole for the two-hour and 40-minute contest.

***Gunn, Alex Riberas, Roman De Angelis, Marco Sorensen and Gray Newell took part in last weekend’s Hankook 25 Hours Fun Cup race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, finishing seventh in class in a enduro that also saw representation from Team WRT among other sports car racing teams.

***A total of 35 guests went through the Heart of Racing’s modified Volkswagen Beetle as passengers during the race according to James. “Some of Gabe [Newell’s] employees from different companies came,” James explained. “It was to give them an experience of what it’s like to be in a race. That’s the only race in the world that I know you where you can take a passenger.”

***Pfaff Motorsports drivers Klaus Bachler and Patrick Pilet both took part in last weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS races at Suzuka, with Bachler taking the Race 1 win in an AAS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak.

***WeatherTech Racing’s Dani Juncadella, meanwhile, won Race 2 in his Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with co-driver Anthony Xu Liu. Lime Rock marks another new track for the Spaniard, who heads into the weekend second in the GTD Pro championship standings with season-long co-driver Gounon.

***Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat’s nine-race podium-finishing streak came to an end last time out at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park after an on-track incident led to a damaged radiator on their No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 that required repairs in the garage. The duo, however, still hold the lead of the GTD Pro standings, ahead of Gounon and Juncadella.

***Proton Competition is still on track to give its Porsche 963 its WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut in the next round at Road America according to team principal Christian Ried, who confirmed to Sportscar365 that it will be air-freighting the chassis it ran in the 6 Hours of Monza FIA World Endurance Championship round. Gianmaria Bruni and Harry Tincknell will be its drivers.

***Ried revealed they’ve signaled intentions of ordering up to two additional 963s, although has yet to receive confirmation from the German manufacturer. He reaffirmed plans to run at least one car in both the WeatherTech Championship and WEC full-time next year, with the possibility of additional cars should they be given the allocation.

***When asked about the future of WeatherTech Racing’s GTD Pro program, Ried said they’re focused entirely on delivering the championship. Sportscar365 understands the effort is not yet confirmed for the 2024 season.

***Kellymoss team co-owner Victoria Thomas was recently announced as an official ambassador for the Women in Motorsports North America organization. Thomas has been a leader in supporting women in the sport including spearheading the Kellymoss Female Driver Shootout which brought Sabre Cook to the team’s Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America program.

***IMSA has postponed its annual ‘State of the Sport’ address to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in October from its originally scheduled Aug. 4 date at Road America. An IMSA spokesperson confirmed to Sportscar365 that the 2024 WeatherTech Championship schedule and other IMSA-sanctioned series calendars will still be released on the Friday of the Road America weekend.

***The spokesperson said that the ‘State of the Sport’ has been pushed back to the season finale in order for it to better align with other activities.

***Sportscar365 has heard continued paddock chatter of a LMP3 endurance series within the three HSR Classic races next year at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen and the HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. IMSA President John Doonan previously acknowledged ongoing dialogue for such a series that would build on HSR’s existing LMP3 machinery.

***AO Racing’s popular ‘Rexy’ livery will return to the No. 56 Project 1 – AO Porsche 911 RSR-19 in the next WEC round at Fuji Speedway according to team manager Gunnar Jeannette, who is expecting a large fan turnout for the livery, which will be making its debut in Japan.

***Saturday’s FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix will be televised live on USA Network beginning at 12 p.m. EDT featuring Brian Till and Calvin Fish in the booth and Dillon Welch and Hannah Newhouse on pit lane. IMSA Radio will also have coverage with its usual team of John Hindhaugh, Jeremy Shaw and Shea Adam.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John