Mantella Camaro Z/28.Rs Continue Full Throttle into Lime Rock Park IMSA CTSC

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Mantella Autosport will look to convert recent promise into podium success during the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge event July 24-25 at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

The two-hour Lime Rock Park event will feature a combined Grand Sport and Street Tuner event. Originally the event was scheduled to feature separate races for both classes on the 1.5-mile road course near Lakeville, Connecticut.

Combining the classes will allow Mantella Autosport fans to catch the race action during prime time on FOX Sports 1. The race will be broadcast from noon-2 p.m (ET) on Sunday, Aug. 2. The race also will be streamed live on IMSA.tv from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, July 25.

Toronto-based Mantella Autosport again will carry momentum into the race event after nearly walking away with a one-two finish at the last event, July 11 at its home track, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP).

Mantella Autosport was the only Camaro team to lead race laps at CTMP. The No. 8 Gulf Oil Camaro Z/28.R of Anthony Mantella and Mark Wilkins led four laps, and the No. 80 MBRP Inc. Camaro Z/28.R of Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli led 11 laps. The No. 8 ended up fifth; the No. 80 finished sixth.

Though it is the team’s first year with the Team Chevy and the Camaro, both Mantella Autosport cars have placed in the top five of the ultra-competitive GS class.

Owner and driver Mantella recognizes his team’s high achievement and the creative strategy of his engineers.

Mantella Camaro Z/28.Rs Continue Full Throttle into Lime Rock Park IMSA CTSC

No. 8 and No. 80 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R’s on track at CTMP

“We had a good result at CTMP because we executed a different strategy than the rest of the field, and it paid off,” Mantella said. “Andrew (Wojteczko, lead engineer) and Ben (Johnson, engineer) worked together to give us fifth- and sixth-place finishes. It would have been a much different outcome if we ran a few more laps, as we know our competitors were soon to run out of fuel.

“This result was not because our cars were easy to drive or the fastest. With the BoP (Balance of Performance) changes, I don’t think we were on par with the Mustangs and Porsches. This was not a turning point for us. We always put 100 percent into our program; we always will. That was made very clear at CTMP, and I can’t continue to thank everyone on the team enough for doing so.”

Mantella Autosport’s weekend at bucolic Lime Rock begins 10 a.m. Friday, July 24 with practice session 1. The second practice will be a class-combined practice at 1:45 p.m. followed by qualifying at 4:40 p.m. Fans can follow live timing at scoring.imsa.com, watch imsa.tv or follow live text commentary on Twitter with @IMSALive.

Mantella Camaro Z/28.Rs Continue Full Throttle into Lime Rock Park IMSA CTSC

No. 8 and No. 80 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R’s on track at CTMP

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