Lakeville, CT (23 July 2023) - Jr III (“Junior-Three”) Racing had two chances to win at Lime Rock Park on Saturday, and the team made the most of both of them as driver Bijoy Garg converted two pole position starts into two IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (VPRC) race victories at the high-speed Connecticut circuit.
The double-win day vaulted young Garg into the provisional lead of the championship points battle with eight races in the books and four races yet to run in the season.
Lime Rock Park’s unique weekend schedule featured four IMSA races on the day, with the VPRC runners staging the opening race of the day in the cool morning conditions. Bijoy drove a heady race, maintaining control of the lead despite close battles early in the race as he delivered a strong performance through a pair of tricky restarts in the multi-class race on his way to an 11-second victory to open the day.
“Obviously the restarts were a bit stressful because you know you never really know what can happen on a restart and someone could crash,” said Bijoy. “But I was able to get a gap and then just drive to the end. Traffic was hard, but it is hard for everyone because there are not a lot of places to get by and you just have to predict what is going to happen but it went well for us today. I’m really, really proud of the team and really proud of the car. It did everything we asked it to today.”
The second race of the day was held under much different conditions as the hills around the track filled with fans under an ideal July sun. But it was the same story on track as Bijoy once again raced to the lead from pole, withstood two restarts with ease, and raced his way to the provisional points lead with a second very satisfying victory on the day.
“It hasn’t been easy switching from open wheel to the LMP3, especially with no testing in the LMP3 before the races,” said Garg. “Charles (Crews) and Garett (Grist) have done a great job coaching me through the process and having such a great team behind me helps as well. Jr III Racing brings great cars every weekend and with their package it’s hard to lose sometimes. I’m really happy with the wins today and I believe we are back in the points lead. I think we will have the speed for the rest of the season, now it’s time to chase the championship.”
Jr III Racing’s IMSA WeatherTech program will be back in action August 4-6th at the famed Wisconsin track of Road America with the next VP Racing SportsCar Championship race taking place at Virginia International Raceway towards the end of August.
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