Looking back on Lime Rock GP 2023
A few weeks back, the team sent a handful of To Be Determined riders to compete on a top-class motorsports course a few hours north of New York City. Read on for more about the racing and the unique venue that hosted it.
What is Lime Rock Park?
Every year, Lime Rock hosts the Northeast Grand Prix – a serious event in the IMSA calendar where various classes of cars race to score points in the Sportscar Championship. The GT Daytona Prototype (GTD) class includes cars like Corvettes, Ferraris, Aston Martins, Porsche 911s, etc. that have been fitted with lightweight aerodynamic kit, overhauled interiors, and upgraded engines, chassis, and brakes. These cars are fast. However, IMSA’s flagship class is called “Grand Tour Prototypes,” also known as GTP. These “hyper cars” are built with prototype chassis and engines at the cutting edge of automotive technology. These cars are insanely fast.
The accommodations for such a venue are expectedly national-class. Lime Rock may not host international competition, but the IMSA is no joke. The paddock, staging area, parking accommodations, restrooms, and spectating were all top-class, especially for a bike race.
Racing on a motorsports course
In my brief time racing bikes, I’ve learned to seize any opportunity to race on a motorsports course. While I lived in Austin, Texas I had the joy of racing America’s Best Weeknight Series, the Driveway, which was run on a small motorsports track less than 20 minutes from the heart of downtown. It was accessible via a carless bike path, no less!
Austin also is home to the famed Formula 1 Circuit of the Americas track, which was only about an hour bike ride from the heart of downtown. Luckily, they hosted a handful of nighttime criteriums under the lights while I lived there in addition to a weekly “bike night” where the track was opened in its entirety to people on bikes. It was, without saying, always a great time.
Racing bikes on a motorsports track is a unique and wonderful experience. The surface must be good enough for cars that reach speeds of close to 200mph, it’s constantly being maintained. The lack of a yellow line rule, interesting features like chicanes and kickers, and wide track to pass or pick fast lines make for the best kind of racing – pure racing.
On such a closed course you get to experience something close to what professionals experience. No cars, no dogs, no joggers, no recreational riders or Citi bikers, no box trucks pulling out in the final lap. The focus can be completely on the race, it’s magical.
Getting to Lime Rock Park
Most of the 2/3 TBD Men’s squad made the trip up to Lime Rock in a rental car with friend of TBD, Gabe Schuster. Gabe was an absolute legend for renting a minivan. The drive was roughly 3 hours one-way, so sadly Lime Rock is not one of the closer races to Brooklyn. That being said, we felt the drive was worth it, especially given the ample possibilities for decent food and soft serve after the race.
I was surprised to find that Lime Rock might also be Metro North accessible – the Harlem line ends at Wossaic, which is 15.4 miles from the park. Given the races weren’t very long, and the Men’s P1/2/3 starting at 3:30pm, we speculate it wouldn’t be the biggest leg sapper to tootle from Wossaic to the start of the race. We found ourselves in the classic quagmire of Brooklyn traffic on our way home anyway, arriving back at Gabe’s door at 9:00pm.
Race reports
The TBD Women’s squad showed up for both the 1/2/3 and the 4/5 field. The women scored well — both Shane and Emily landed on the podium in their fields. TBD Men similarly had solid days out — James landing a top 10 in the Men’s 3/4 and Ben landing a well-deserved 4th in the 1/2/3 after sticking a break for the better part of 40 minutes, holding off a strong chase group including Adam Myerson and Enzo Edmonds. Massive teamwork from Scott and Alvaro helped that break get away and stick.
All in all, we had a blast getting out on the track and would come back rain or shine.
Lime Rock Grand Prix Gallery by Scott
Espresso addict, soigneur, endurance enthusiast. Racing bikes for TBD and wrenching/fits at ACME Bicycles.
