Lime Rock Pre-Race Notebook

***Both the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 and No. 16 BAR1 Motorsports Oreca FLM09 returned to the track in Saturday’s morning warmup after accidents on Friday. Michael Marsal told Sportscar365 the Turner team worked tirelessly to ensure the team had the car out for its home race, which features a large amount of guests and family members.

***The repaired BMW led the GT Daytona timesheets in the 20-minute warmup, with Dane Cameron setting the fastest lap of the weekend at 53.122 seconds. Renger van der Zande led in Prototype Challenge at overall at 48.895 seconds for Starworks Motorsport. Full results are linked here.

***IMSA held a Prototype Challenge team owners’ meeting Friday morning, to solicit further input and opinion about the future of the prototype category. It’s understood to have been a positive meeting, although no decisions were made.

***Having been confirmed as one of the four LMP2 constructors for 2017, Riley Tech is in the design phase of its new prototype, Bill Riley told Sportscar365. The Riley/Multimatic joint effort is now formalized and publicized, which it hadn’t been prior to the constructor reveal on July 9.

***IMSA will hold a State of the Series event for stakeholders on Saturday evening, August 8, at the Osthoff Resort at Road America. IMSA President and COO Scott Atherton told Sportscar365 that IMSA is targeting an August release of the schedule, with no major changes anticipated.

***Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) will be the grand marshal for today’s Northeast Grand Prix. The senior U.S. Senator from Connecticut will say a few words on the grid prior to giving the command to start engines.

***While not racing this weekend, SpeedSource Mazda driver Jonathan Bomarito is on hand anyway in a driver coaching and spotting role at his old team, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports.

***Continental Tire has brought 1,872 tires to Lime Rock including 1,318 slicks and 554 wets.

***Scuderia Corsa’s Townsend Bell will host the second season of “What’Cha Got”, presented by Continental Tire, which premieres during the MLS All-Star pre-game show Wednesday, July 29 on Fox Sports 1. Bell hosts as Major League Soccer players trade their cleats for driving shoes behind the wheel of a 2015 Lamborghini.

***The Motorsport Safety Foundation launched its Race with Restraint program at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill. on Friday, at the 24 Hours of LeMons event. The initiative aims to make motorsport safety equipment more accessible to drivers at all levels by offering Frontal Head Restraint (FHR) rentals at race tracks across the country.

***In the three previous races where the PC class raced for overall victory, three different teams have won. Starworks Motorsport won the only previous PC/GTD round in Monterey last year, while CORE autosport (Kansas) and 8Star Motorsports (VIR) won the two combined PC/IMSA Prototype Lites races last year.

***The Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer continues its 2015 fundraising auction schedule at Turner Motorsport’s team transporter.

***More than 50 guests of the Children’s Tumor Foundation are in attendance today, in what is the organization’s home race. The CTF partners with Compass360 Racing, which makes its TUDOR Championship debut today.

***Be sure to check out Andy Blackmore’s official Spotter Guide for today’s Northeast Grand Prix, featuring all 17 starters for the two-hour and 40-minute race.

***Today’s Northeast Grand Prix, Round 7 of the PC season and Round 6 for GTD, will air live on IMSA.com at 3:15 p.m. ET. It will also air live on IMSA Radio and via the IMSA app. The race will air on Sunday, July 26, on FOX Sports 1 at 5 p.m. ET.