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Full Schedule of Four Memorial Day Races for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Pirelli World Challenge Teams at Lime Rock Park

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in two different Pirelli World Challenge divisions are competing this holiday weekend at Lime Rock Park where a full schedule of SprintX GT and GTS events culminates with a packed lineup of four races this Memorial Day Monday.

Two Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams that scored victories in their most recent Pirelli World Challenge race weekends lead the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing ranks to the 1.5-mile Lime Rock Park road course.

Daniel Morad drove the No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to his and the team's first 2018 victory from the pole last Saturday in the Pirelli World Challenge Sprint event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP).

Partnering this weekend with official Mercedes-AMG driver Raffaele Marciello in the two-driver SprintX Pro division, Morad and CRP are third in the overall 2018 Pirelli World Challenge GT championship standings after the CTMP win and a top-five overall race finish last Sunday.

Lone Star Racing, with co-drivers Mike Skeen and Scott Heckert, is focusing on Pirelli World Challenge SprintX GT Pro competition so far this year. Skeen and Heckert co- drove the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to victory in the most recent SprintX race last month at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) and come to Lime Rock third in the SprintX GT Pro driver and team championship standings.

Morad and Skeen have combined to give the Mercedes-AMG GT3 three pole positions in 2018 Pirelli World Challenge GT competition, including a perfect two-for- two in SprintX GT. Skeen won the pole for the SprintX season-opening weekend at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in March while Morad qualified on top at VIR, in addition to putting the No. 2 Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the Sprint GT pole last Saturday at CTMP.

Three Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries will compete at Lime Rock in the SprintX GTS Pro/Am class.

Robinson Racing teammates Gar Robinson and Shane Lewis, who combined to give the Mercedes-AMG GT4 its first podium finishes in North American competition last weekend at CTMP, co-drive the No. 74 Robinson Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 at Lime Rock. Robinson drove the same car to a second-place finish Sunday in the GTS Sprint race at CTMP, one day after Lewis finished third in the team's No. 72 Robinson Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Matt Fassnacht and co-driver Christian Szymczak are another Mercedes-AMG Customer team focusing on SprintX competition this season. They will share the No. 34 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 on a Lime Rock road course that nearby New Jersey-resident Fassnacht considers his home track.

Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport is a familiar Mercedes-AMG Customer team that will make its Pirelli World Challenge debut at Lime Rock Park. Leading competitors in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, the father-and-son pairing of Bryce and Russell Ward will drive the No. 33 Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport at Lime Rock. Russell Ward co-drove the same car to a fifth-place finish in the most recent IMSA race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course earlier this month.

The Pirelli World Challenge SprintX schedule at Lime Rock begins today with practice sessions for both divisions. The 55-minute GT session starts at 2:30 p.m. EDT while the GTS division has its own 55-minute practice beginning at 4:20 p.m. EDT.

Each division has a final 45-minute practice session Saturday morning before GTS qualifying from 2:25 to 2:45 p.m. EDT and GT qualifying from 3 to 3:20 p.m. EDT that afternoon. No on-track activity is scheduled for Sunday.

Memorial Day Monday's "double-doubleheader" format begins with SprintX GTS Round 1 at 9:55 a.m. EDT and SprintX GT Round 1 at 11:25 a.m. EDT. The second SprintX GTS race is scheduled to start Monday afternoon at 2:25 p.m. EDT while the second SprintX GT round closes out the weekend at 4:05 p.m. EDT.

All races can be viewed live on Monday at stream.world-challenge.com.

Daniel Morad, Driver – No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "The Mercedes- AMG GT3 is a car that performs well in high-speed corners so it should work well around most of the Lime Rock Park circuit. Racing twice in one day is nice! It's like doing a double stint in endurance racing. There's a short turnaround time but it does give the fans good value in one day. We are coming off of an overall positive weekend at CTMP. We notched our first victory this season and we were finally able to translate our season-long speed into a maximum points day on Saturday. Sunday was a bit unfortunate with the mixed grid due to some cars switching to slick tires as the track dried Saturday, but we opted to stay in the lead and take the victory over pole position for the following day. We did manage to stay ahead of the points leader, so we did make a gain in the championship on both days."

Mike Skeen, Driver – No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "I've only been to Lime Rock once, but I was fortunate enough to win on that visit in 2013 in Pirelli Word Challenge. We know that the Mercedes-AMG GT3 excels in the corners and braking zones, which is exactly what we have at LRP. I expect our car to do very well without any long straights where the other brands tend to make up time. Focusing on the SprintX rounds does allow us to remain consistent in our preparation and the ‘feel' of how the weekends run, but it's a trade off with less track time compared to most of our competition. We have obviously had good pace with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, but there is always more to learn. Lime Rock's single-day doubleheader format will be a big challenge. Having little to no turnaround time will make it difficult to make any changes or repairs needed between races, so it will be more important than ever to keep the car clean, especially in Race 1. With the tight confines of LRP as the battlefield, that could prove very difficult."

Shane Lewis, Driver – No. 74 Robinson Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: "After the Mercedes-AMG GT4's performance last weekend in Canada, I wish Lime Rock was double in length! While Lime Rock is an open-flow type of the track it is also somewhat of a bullring, the shortest track on the schedule. I believe we will be good in laps with clear traffic, but the series has a big entry at this event so those laps may be hard to come by. When the green flags drop it's going to be a fight. We need long runs with no yellow flags. Gar and I are having so much fun as co-drivers in the SprintX races. We have been practicing the driver changes and the pit stops as a team. A lap at Lime Rock is a short lap, so we have to be perfect in all aspects. What I do know is no one will try harder or have more fun than we will."

Matt Fassnacht, Driver – No. 34 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: "I love driving the Mercedes-AMG GT4. It is silky smooth and blindingly fast. It is so compelling, I recently bought a Mercedes-AMG vehicle as my daily driver. Lime Rock is a special place for me as it is where I raced my first laps. I've never piloted something nearly as powerful as the Mercedes-AMG GT4 at Lime Rock, but I can't wait, especially because we are running the uphill turn. I expect the Mercedes-AMG GT4 to be very competitive at Lime Rock and am looking forward to demonstrating the pace and performance with strong results."

Bryce Ward, Driver – No. 33 Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4: "It has been an exciting year so far, and Winward Racing and HTP are learning a little more about the Mercedes-AMG GT4 with every race. This was a great opportunity to test the car at Lime Rock, especially for me not having been there. I am really looking forward to sharing the car with Russell for the first time and hope to be able to turn it over to him in an advantageous position. I am sure Russell will be able to give more feedback on the car's abilities at this track having driven there before. It was good to see the results in Canada last weekend, and I believe that the car should perform well at this track, especially through the high-speed corners and braking into turn one. Our main focus this weekend will be car setup and track time for me."

 

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