WeatherTech Racing will switch from GTD Pro to GTD in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship from this weekends Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.
The #79 Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo will be driven at the GT-only event this weekend by Cooper MacNeil and Jules Gounon, Gounon the eighth different co-driver to join MacNeil in the #79 in nine events, the number switching from the Porsche initially entered at Daytona and Sebring before the effort was switched to the MG thereafter.
Gounon was part of the squad, together with MacNeil, in the AMG – then numbered #97 – for the opening enduros of the season.
“Lime Rock is the ‘Bull Ring’ of the IMSA WeatherTech schedule,” MacNeil said. “With around a 50 second lap time you really have no time to take a break. The fast lap also means there is no room for error on the track or on pit road. If you make one small mistake, you’re going down a lap. We are hopeful that the tight layout and fact that there are six right hand turns will suit our WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG.”
Gounon will be racing at Lime Rock for the first time.
“I’ve never raced at Lime Rock before, but I am looking forward to driving at this short and fast circuit,” Gounon said. “I will be looking to Cooper to give me some tips, then we can work together to get the pace out of the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes. On the SIM I really like the flow of the circuit and especially the last downhill section.”
