Qualifying has concluded for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s TA/XGT/SGT/GT race at Lime Rock Park. With practice rained out on Saturday afternoon, this morning was the first official session for TA competitors. Chris Dyson put his No. 20 ALTWELL Ford Mustang on the pole with a new track-record time of 49.832s.
Tomy Drissi was the second-fastest qualifier, laying down a lap of 49.906s in his No. 8 Lucas Oil Mustang, but experienced a hard crash which will prevent him from taking the green flag. Ken Thwaits was third in his No. 7 Franklin Road Apparel Camaro with a 50.678s. Matthew Brabham, replacing Humaid Masaood for the weekend, was fourth fastest in the No. 21 allgram Mustang with a 51.775s. Amy Ruman was fifth with a 52.790s in her No. 23 McNichols Co. Corvette.
“It’s always great to go out and be quickest in qualifying in any Trans Am session, especially here at my home track,” said Dyson. “The track is pretty treacherous — obviously we’re sorry to lose Tomy ’s car. That was a pretty hard hit; I’m glad he’s OK. But I’m definitely happy to have the ALTWELL car starting on the front row. Matt Brabham is here in our No. 21, and he’s getting up to speed as well, so we’re going to go out and put on a great show today for our local fans and families.”
Jason Berkeley was fastest for the SGT class, laying down a lap of 56.047s in his No. 67 Falls Village Inn Chevrolet Corvette. Billy Griffin in the No. 14 Griffin Auto Care/Sheehans Towing Ford Mustang had the top GT time with a 56.195s (new track record). Randy Hale’s No. 31 Hale Propeller Corvette topped the XGT class with a 56.933s (new track record) and three-time TA winner Paul Fix had the fastest TAH lap with a 53.073s.
Full qualifying results can be found here.
The TA race will be contested today at 12:00 p.m. ET. Free live coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. ET at www.youtube.com/TheTransAmSeries.
