- Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 effort spearheaded by #51 Rick Ware Racing in GT-only event at Lime Rock Park
- Drivers Ryan Eversely and Aidan Read show pace in practice
- Team struggles through incident-filled race
It was a tough race day for the #51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 at Lime Rock Park, with the team suffering multiple incidents in a two-hour, 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship contest.
The lone Acura for the first of two GT-only event on the 2022 schedule, the #51 NSX GT3 topped the timesheets for much of the second practice session, winding up second in the ultra-competitive IMSA GTD class. However, qualifying and the race would not go their way.
After qualifying eighth on Friday, starting driver Aidan Read would move up to sixth place off the start, but quickly encountered the first of a number of issues the team would face during the event, spinning off track early on in the first stint.
The issues, primarily brake and tire-wear related, would not get better for co-driver Ryan Eversley after he took over, necessitating an early, unscheduled pit stop to change rubber on the degradation-heavy race track. The problems eventually culminated with Eversley sliding off course and into the wall with 20 minutes left in the event, ending the day for the #51 team.
Quote
Ryan Eversley (#51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX-GT3 Evo22) Finished second: ""We were having issues with brakes and the tires from really lap 1 of the race. Once I got behind the wheel, I wasn't surprised Aidan had his early stint issue, and I wasn't surprised when it finally bit me as well. It's a bummer, but we'll work with the team and the engineers from HPD to find the problem and come back stronger in our Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX next race. I feel like Road America could be a really strong track for us!"
Fast Fact
- Saturday's two-hour, 40-minute FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix was the first of two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship stand-alone events for the production-based GTDand GTDPro classes. The second GT-only race will take place at Virginia International Raceway in late August.
NEXT
The full WeatherTech SportsCar Championship field returns for the next race on the schedule, the August 5-7 IMSA Sports Car Weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Acura Motorsports Social media content and video links from Lime Rock are available on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (www.twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).
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