Fresh off the boat from the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, the American Le Mans competitors came to Lime Rock Park, in Lakeville, Connecticut on July 18th. Great weather brought out large crowds for the main event.

Competition in GT2 class was really strong with new entrants BMW Rahal Letterman Racing M3’s making a very impressive appearance by battling the ever strong and reliable Flying Lizard Porsche GT3 RSRs and the mighty Risi Ferrari F430 GT. These three teams are nothing short of remarkable in their expertise at putting together truly competitive cars. Even with the wide diversity of tracks the teams encounter, they always adjust their race cars to perform at the top of the game. Rounding out the field in GT2 were the Ford GT, Panoz, Farnbacher Loles’ Porsche GT3 RSR and Vici Racing’s Porsche GT3 RSR.

Absent from Lime Rock this year was Audi Sport North American, Aston Martin, and Corvette Racing. Audi is saving the R15 for the big shows and Corvette Racing is in transition from GT1 to GT2.  Corvette will make it’s GT2 debut at Mid-Ohio in the coming weeks. Corvette was always impressive in GT1 class racing and we expect nothing less in GT2.

ALMS at Lime Rock is always a treat for race-fans from the Northeast corridor.  Dyson racing of NY, and Farbacher Loles and Highcroft Racing delight fans with their competitiveness every year.  This year Dyson scored it’s first major LMP2 class win in it’s new Mazda powered Lola!

Following are some images from the day out an some video of Turn 1 during the initial laps of the Grand Prix.

Lola-Mazda:

Porsche Gt3 Cup:

Porsche Gt3 Cup:

Porsche Gt3 Cup Patron:

Ferrari F430 GT:

Porsche Gt3 Cup:

Panoz Esperante:

Porsche GT3 RSR Vici Racing:

Dodge Viper:

BMW Rahal Letterman M3:

BMW Rahal Letterman M3:

P2 Hybrid:

BMW 3.0 CSL – Historic Race Car:

Early battles in GT2 were tight with the Risi Ferrari taking the lead early on but being passed by the Flying Lizard Porsche several laps into the race. The Rahal Letterman BMW M3s ran very strong for most of the race, and the #90 car driven by Hand/Auberlen managed a #3 position on the GT2 Podium behind the Ferrari driven by Melo/Kaffer combo and the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche piloted by Bergmeister and Long.

Class Winners:

LMP1 – Acura, De Ferran / Pagenaud
LMP2 – Mazda, Sharp / Brabham
GT2 – Porsche, Long / Bergmeister
Challenge – Porsche, Hoaglund / Faieta

Full official Race Results can be found at the American LeMans website (PDF).

It’s always a great day out to see the American LeMans cars run at Lime Rock. We hope that ALMS and Lime Rock and the loyal fans continue to support this superb motorsports event.

Sports Car Advisors coverage of the 2008 Northeast Grand Prix can be viewed here.

ALMS at Lime Rock on YouTube

Action shots of ALMS at Lime Rock, courtesy Will L:

Tags: American Le Mans, Dyson Racing, Ferrari 430, Lime Rock, Porsche GT3

Posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 2:41 pm under Lifestyle & Events, Motorsports Race Events. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed.