2016 Northeast Grand Prix

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015.^[1] It was the second consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the twenty-fifth annual running of the race. The 2016 Northeast Grand Prix was the eighth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2016 by IMSA, and was the fifth round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.^[1] The race was held at the seven-turn 1.530 mi (2.462 km) Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut on July 23, 2016.^[2] The GTLM category would participate in the event for the first time since the 2013 running.^[3]

IMSA altered the balance of performance to try to create parity within the GTLM category. The BMW M6 GTLM received a reduction in turbo boost pressure and a 2-litre fuel capacity reduction. The Ferrari 488 GTE received an increase in turbo boost pressure, and a 2-litre fuel capacity increase as well as a 1.0 mm refuelling hose restrictor reduction increase. The Ford GT received a 0.1 mm refuelling hose restrictor reduction. The Porsche 911 RSR had its weight increased by 20 kg (44 lb).^[4]

Before the race, Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande led the Prototype Challenge Drivers' Championship with 231 points, ahead of Robert Alon and Tom Kimber-Smith in second by 14 points, and Stephen Simpson and Misha Goikhberg in third with 209 points.^[5] With 192 points, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner led the GTLM Drivers' Championship, 5 points ahead of Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook.^[5] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 191 points; the duo held a twenty two-point advantage over Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas.^[5] Chevrolet and Ferrari were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Starworks Motorsport, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.^[5]

Thirty-one cars were officially entered for the Northeast Grand Prix, with most of the entries being in the Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories. The Prototype Challenge (PC) class was composed of eight Oreca FLM09 cars: three from Starworks Motorsports. BAR1 Motorsports, CORE Autosport, JDC-Miller MotorSports, Performance Tech and PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entered one car each.^[6] GTLM was represented by nine entries from five different brands.^[6] In the list of GTD entrants, fourteen GT3-specification vehicles were represented by six different manufacturers.^[6] With the absence of the Prototype (P) class from the field, only three racing classes were represented in Lime Rock.^[2]

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, both on Friday. The two one-hour sessions were on Friday afternoon.^[7]

In the first practice session, Renger van der Zande set the fastest time in the No. 8 Starworks car with a time of 48.808 seconds, 0.214 seconds faster than Colin Braun's No. 54 CORE Autosport vehicle, and Stephen Simpson's No. 85 car was third.^[8] The GTLM class was topped by the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin. Joey Hand in the No. 66 Ford GT was second and Toni Vilander's Risi Ferrari was third.^[9] Audi paced GTD with Magnus Racing's R8 of Lally lapping at 52.807, followed by Jens Klingmann's No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6.^[9] The session was stopped for 10 minutes when John Edwards No.100 RLL BMW M6 stopped on track due to a driveline failure.^[8]

Braun led the final practice session in CORE's No. 54 car with a lap of 48.990 seconds. Kimber-Smith's No. 52 PR/1's vehicle was second fastest. Marcelli was third fastest for Performance Tech.^[10] BMW topped GTLM with Werner's No. 25 car lapping at 51.164 seconds. Vilander was second fastest for Risi Competizione and Milner's No. 4 Corvette was third.^[10] Farnbacher led the GTD class in the No. 23 Porsche, followed by Liddell's No. 6 Stevenson Motorsport Audi R8.^[10][11]

Friday afternoon's 65-minute three-group qualifying session gave 15-minute sessions to all categories. Cars in GTD were sent out first before those grouped in GTLM, and PC had two separate identically timed sessions. Regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each classes starting order. IMSA would arranged the grid to put all PCs ahead of the GTLM, and GTD cars.^[12][7]

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap	Grid
1	PC	54	CORE Autosport	Colin Braun	48.824	_	81
2	PC	52	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports	Robert Alon	48.840	+0.016	1‡
3	PC	38	Performance Tech Motorsports	James French	48.930	+0.106	2
4	PC	7	Starworks Motorsport	José Gutiérrez	48.978	+0.154	3
5	PC	8	Starworks Motorsport	Alex Popow	49.222	+0.398	4
6	PC	20	BAR1 Motorsports	Matt McMurry	49.266	+0.442	5
7	PC	85	JDC-Miller MotorSports	Misha Goikhberg	49.659	+0.835	6
8	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Richard Westbrook	50.748	+1.924	9‡
9	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Dirk Werner	50.834	+2.010	10
10	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Tommy Milner	50.858	+2.034	11
11	GTLM	62	Risi Competizione	Toni Vilander	50.902	+2.078	12
12	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Joey Hand	51.015	+2.191	13
13	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Jan Magnussen	51.264	+2.440	14
14	GTLM	911	Porsche North America	Patrick Pilet	51.346	+2.522	15
15	GTLM	100	BMW Team RLL	John Edwards	51.431	+2.607	16
16	GTLM	912	Porsche North America	Frédéric Makowiecki	51.445	+2.621	17
17	PC	88	Starworks Motorsport	Mark Kvamme	51.629	+2.805	8
18	GTD	16	Change Racing	Spencer Pumpelly	53.178	+4.324	18‡
19	GTD	6	Stevenson Motorsports	Andrew Davis	53.222	+4.354	19
20	GTD	9	Stevenson Motorsports	Matt Bell	53.250	+4.398	20
21	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Christina Nielsen	53.250	+4.426	21
22	GTD	48	Paul Miller Racing	Madison Snow	53.330	+4.506	22
23	GTD	23	Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing	Mario Farnbacher	53.538	+4.714	23
24	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Bret Curtis	53.588	+4.764	24
25	GTD	73	Park Place Motorsports	Patrick Lindsey	53.609	+4.785	25
26	GTD	27	Dream Racing	Cédric Sbirrazzuoli	53.680	+4.786	312
27	GTD	97	Turner Motorsport	Michael Marsa	53.695	+4.871	26
28	GTD	44	Magnus Racing	John Potter	53.698	+4.874	27
29	GTD	22	Alex Job Racing	Cooper MacNeil	53.784	+4.960	28
30	GTD	33	Riley Motorsports	Ben Keating	53.983	+5.159	303
31	GTD	540	Black Swan Racing	Tim Pappas	54.949	+6.155	29
Sources:[13][14]

• ¹ The No. 54 CORE Autosport entry was sent to the rear of the PC grid as per 43.1 of the Sporting regulations (Starting driver change).^[12]
• ² The No. 27 Dream Racing Lamborghini was sent to the rear of the GTD grid as per 43.1 of the Sporting regulations (Starting driver change).^[12]
• ³ The No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge was sent to the rear of the GTD grid as per 40.1.5 of the Sporting regulations (Tire change).^[12]