Happy 4th July from a buzzing and gorgeously sunny Lime Rock Park! The irony of an English person reporting from a track in New England on Independence Day isn’t lost on me, but I will do my best to fill the considerably larger shoes temporarily vacated by Mr G Horrocks over the next few days.
There’s no track action today for the ALMS field of 34 cars and many of the teams are still completing set up in the paddock. It’s been a long eight weeks for those competitors who didn’t make the trip across the pond to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and everyone is keen to get going again.
Lime Rock Park circuit is looking great, with plenty of fans and RVs already in place for the weekend. Also on site already are the impressive display units from the manufacturers – Corvette’s newest Stingray model on display alongside others from Dodge, SRT, Cadillac and BMW. Sell, sell, sell to this affluent and influential crowd seems to be the order of the day.
The track, meanwhile, is set to undergo a significant transformation with paddock and pit lane updates planned for 2014. The existing Lime Rock Park pit lane will be lengthened significantly to accommodate 45 pit boxes, with the new pit-in due to begin under the Bailey Bridge (at the top of the Downhill). Both the primary and the secondary paddocks are also due to be enlarged and paved. The new upgrades are planned for next year to coincide with the debut of the United Sports Car Racing series.
Fiona Miller
