Short, fast, and Unforgiving Circuit leaves no room for Error at Grand-Am season finale
September 26, 2012 (Opelika, Ala.) – At 1.5-miles in length, Lime Rock Park – the site of this weekend’s Championship Weekend at Lime Rock Park – is the shortest, tightest track on the GRAND-AM schedule.
With the circuit offering few opportunities to pass, a narrow layout, and one scary-fast, high-speed, downhill corner, spectators will be in for plenty of action as the Daytona Prototypes and GT cars of the Rolex Sports Car Series battle for the final time this season. For the GT cars, simply surviving the two-hour and forty-five minute race without contact will be the key to a strong result.
The race will mark the end of the first season of North American competition for the no. 51 APR Audi R8 Grand-Am. The car, which debuted at this season’s Rolex 24 at Daytona and has been driven by Dr. Jim Norman and Dion von Moltke, has been developed throughout the year and has shown increased pace and competitiveness. With only the race at Lime Rock left, both drivers are looking for a breakthrough performance. Von Moltke knows how to win at Lime Rock, having won last season in the ALMS’ GT-C class.
“With so many championships on the line, ending the season at Lime Rock Park will be a very difficult task,” said von Moltke. “Because Lime Rock is by far the shortest and the tightest race track we race on all year the traffic becomes very difficult to navigate during a race but now with the added pressure of the last race of the year it will be more difficult than ever. Because it is so difficult to overtake around Lime Rock we will really have to focus on track position on our strategy. With that on the minds of all the teams we will be seeing quite a few different race strategies which will make for quite an exciting season finale. Lime Rock is a very demanding circuit on the driver, with no rest and the intense traffic around this short track making sure Jim and I bring our “A” games will be vital to finishing our season off strong!”
For his part, Norman also sees the need to balance his race with keeping an eye out for the Daytona Prototypes who will be lapping the GT field quickly on the short circuit.
“I love racing at Lime Rock,” said Norman.” It is quick with a few technical sections that are tremendous fun. The biggest challenge here is putting the prototypes and the GT cars together without getting them together!”
The large Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will run separate races for the GS and ST classes owing to the short length of the circuit. Looking for a strong finish to the season, Nate Norenberg and Josh Hurley will team up in the no. 161 APR VW GTI while Aleks Altberg and David Cheng will look at add to their win tally in the no. 171 APR VW GTI.
The finale for the CTSCC’s ST class will be Friday, September 28 at 3:20 PM EST and will be shown live on SPEED2.com with a television broadcast on Saturday, October 13 at 2:00 PM ET on SPEED Channel. The Rolex Sports Car Series will go green for its’ season finale on Saturday, September 29 at 3:00 PM ET and will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel.
ABOUT Parathyroid.com
Parathyroid.com is an educational website discussing the adverse health issues associated with high blood calcium. It is recognized as the leading authority on hyperparathyroidism caused by parathyroid tumors located in the neck which affect one in 1000 people causing high blood calcium, osteoporosis, chronic fatigue, depression, and kidney stones, among other conditions. For more information, visit www.parathyroid.com.
ABOUT PR NEWSWIRE
PR Newswire (www.prnewswire.com) is the premier global provider of multimedia platforms that enable marketers, corporate communicators, sustainability officers, public affairs and investor relations officers to leverage content to engage with all their key audiences. Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry 57 years ago, PR Newswire today provides end-to-end solutions to produce, optimize and target content – from rich media to online video to multimedia – and then distribute content and measure results across traditional, digital, mobile and social channels. Combining the world’s largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire enables the world’s enterprises to engage opportunity everywhere it exists. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, and is a UBM plc company.
ABOUT SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS
South African Airways features daily nonstop service from the U.S. to South Africa with morning departures from New York JFK and afternoon direct service from Washington Dulles (with a stop in Dakar, Senegal) that offer travel convenience and award-winning service. Travelers in Premium Business Class enjoy 180° fully flat-bed seats, and in Economy Class enjoy the most legroom versus competitors. Every seat on board offers an individual on-demand entertainment system, plush pillow, warm blanket and amenity kit. SAA’s unrivaled network, featuring seamless connections to nearly 20 destinations within South Africa, and more than 25 cities across the rest of the continent, makes the airline the savvy traveler’s “gateway to Africa.” To complement this network, a world of privileges awaits those who join Voyager, South African Airways’ premier mileage program. To sign up, visit www.flysaa.com, and link to the Voyager icon. As a Star Alliance member, South African Airways is able to offer its customers 1,290 destinations in 189 countries and more than 21,000 flights daily, including convenient connections from more than 25 cities in the U.S. through code share service with Star Alliance member United Airlines. Members of United’s, US Airways’ and Air Canada’s frequent traveler programs are able to earn and redeem miles on all SAA flights. For more information on South African Airways, please call (800) 722-9675 or visit www.flysaa.com, where travelers can sign up to be notified of other great travel deals and vacation packages. For information about South Africa, visit www.southafrica.net.
ABOUT MOTUL USA
Motul USA is a world-class company specialized in distribution of high-tech synthetic lubricants formulated for powersports and automotive applications. Motul is a partner to many manufacturers and racing teams in order to further their technological development in motorsports. It has invested in many international competitions as an official supplier for teams in: 24 Hours of Le Mans, GT1 World Championship, MotoGP, World Rally Car (WRC), Dakar® and others. For more information, log on to www.motul.com.
ABOUT APR
APR LLC is an automotive engineering firm operating a 36,000 sq. ft. performance campus in Opelika, Ala. APR was founded in 1997 with a corporate philosophy of Integrity, Excellence and Innovation. APR’s sole mission is to provide the highest quality and most highly engineered aftermarket performance parts available for Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda vehicles. Learn more at www.goapr.com, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/APRMotorsport, and on twitter (@GoAPR).