Mario Farnbacher is keeping his IMSA SportsCar Championship title chances alive. Despite a setback during the race in Lime Rock Park, the Franconian is still within striking distance of the standings leaders.
Farnbacher and his teammate Alex Riberas improved steadily throughout the weekend. “During training sessions, we processed important information and could coordinate the car for qualifying”, said Farnbacher. With a lap time of 53,538 seconds and a gap of 0,390 seconds, the Alex Job Racing Team pilot finally secured a sixth on the grid.
The shortest circuit race on the calendar got off to a turbulent start and witnessed umpteen mishaps by fellow competitors. However, Farnbacher stayed cool and worked his way forwards to second position in the highly competitive GTD class. Alex Riberas continued the strong performance, but in the final phase, he collided with an opponent and damaged the Porsche 911 GT3 R. “That was very unfortunate. Alex had done all he could to achieve a podium finish”, recalled the ambitious racing driver.
After this guest performance in Lime Rock, Mario Farnbacher is third in the standings. “Luckily our title rivals only finished eleventh in the race and were hardly able to increase their lead. That was a blessing in disguise for us”, said the 24-year-old.
The title contender now enters the hot phase of the championship. The next race takes place in Elkhart Lake on the 7th August and is the eighth of eleven rounds of the American sports car championship season. Farnbacher still has a score to settle with the traditional track in the US state of Wisconsin. The Road America is one of the few circuits on the calendar, where the Franconian has not yet celebrated a podium finish.
