Park Place Porsche Claims GTD Victory at Lime Rock

Photo: Porsche Cars North America

Joerg Bergmeister held off Bryan Sellers to take Park Place Motorsports back to victory lane for the first time in nearly two years, in Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.

The GT-only shootout, which ran caution-free, saw Bergmeister and Patrick Lindsey collect GT Daytona class honors in their No. 73 Porsche 911 GT3 R, thanks in part to a quick second and final pit stop in the two-hour and 40-minute race.

Bergmeister rejoined with a narrow lead over the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Sellers, with the Porsche factory driver able to manage the gap while dicing through traffic.

The German crossed the line 3.473 seconds ahead of Sellers to claim his seventh class win at Lime Rock out of nine starts.

It marked Porsche’s second GTD class win of the season and a double victory for the German manufacturer, with the CORE autosport-run factory squad giving the mid-engined Porsche 911 RSR its first win in global competition in GT Le Mans.

Park Place, meanwhile, claimed its first victory since Petit Le Mans 2015, which featured runner-up finisher Madison Snow in the team’s driver lineup.

The No. 28 Alegra Motorsports Porsche of Daniel Morad and Patrick Long completed the GTD class podium in third.

Long took over the class lead on lap 38 from pole-sitter Snow through traffic, and maintained the position until the first round of pit stops, which saw Morad take the wheel for the middle stint.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park class winners Lawson Aschenbach and Andrew Davis took the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS were fourth, with the No. 93 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 charging back from two drive-through penalties for a top-five finish.

Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen extended their championship lead with a sixth place class finish after suspension failure for the No. 33 Riley Team AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen, which was triggered by contact from the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 of Jens Klingmann in the second hour.

James Davison, meanwhile, appeared to be en route to a top-five finish until his No. 007 TRG Aston Martin V12 Vantage stopped on track with eight minutes to go.

Along with the Riley Mercedes, it was one of four retirements in the first all-green race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship since 2015 at Virginia International Raceway.

RESULTS: Northeast Grand Prix

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