P3 Results for Eversley & Pombo at Lime Rock Park

The LA Honda World Racing (LAHWR) team had a mixed bag of results this past weekend in the Lime Rock 100, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge event at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

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Let’s break things down by the two LAHWR entries:

The No. 37 Honda Civic FL5 TCR of Mat Pombo and Ryan Eversley:

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Pombo and Eversley once again had an outstanding weekend, including Pombo earning the team’s fifth pole position in six events thus far this season during Friday’s qualifying session.

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And then in Saturday’s main event, the 107-lap/100-minute event around the seven turn, 1.474-mile permanent road course, the duo ended up with a strong third-place podium finish in the state-of-the-art No. 37 Honda Civic FL5 TCR.

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“It was a really tough race,” Eversley said. “We short-filled to keep track position, maybe took a little less fuel than we should have, but ended up coming home with the podium.

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“A lot of fuel saving there, but Honda’s always have good fuel mileage, even on the street side. That was able to get us the trophy today and we’ll take it.”

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Added Pombo, “Good race here at Lime Rock. We’re excited we got a podium. Had a little issue with fuel filling, so we had to save a lot (of fuel), or we might have had something for the Hyundai’s at the end. But that’s the way it goes sometimes in racing.

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“The car was fast. Thanks to JAS Motorsports once again for building an awesome car and LA Honda World for all their work between races. We’ve been killing them unfortunately with some work. Hopefully, they get to take the car home and have some time with family.

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“We’re gearing up for this last half of the season. It started with a podium, we go to Road America in the next couple of weeks, Ryan and I both love that track, so hopefully we’ll keep moving up on the steps (of the Michelin Pilot Challenge standings).”

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As for Friday’s qualifying session, here’s how the No. 37 did:

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For the fifth time in six starts this season in the new, state-of-the-art Honda Civic FL 5 TCR, the pairing of Mat Pombo and Ryan Eversley came away with the pole position, giving them the No. 1 starting position in Saturday’s race.

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With Pombo behind the wheel, he topped the 14-car field around the seven-turn, 1.474-mile permanent road course with a blistering qualifying time of 00:53.294, which was nearly a quarter-second quicker than the second-quickest car. His speed just barely missed breaking 100 mph, at 99.838 mph.

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“This is our fifth (pole) out of six,” Pombo said. “We missed one (pole) at CTMP (Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on July 7) by a little bit, so we’ve gotta start a new run here. If we’re going to break the record, we have to win five in a row.

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“These cars are great. It’s been so fast out of the box and so easy to drive compared to the last model. It makes our jobs much easier. So if you’re looking for a TCR car, this Honda FL5 is going to be pretty stout and comfy for you to race in.”

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As for Friday’s two practice sessions:

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•     Pombo and Eversley were fifth-quickest in the first session with a time of 00:54.302, just over a half-second slower than the car that paced the overall field.

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•     Eversley and Pombo dropped slightly to seventh-quickest on the grid at 00:54.719 in the second practice, but improved slightly to be under a half-second behind the quickest car in the field.

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As for LAHWR’s other team, the No. 73 Honda Civic FL5 TCR, it did not have quite the strong effort that its teammate car and drivers had at Lime Rock.

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In Saturday’s race, William Tally got the ball rolling, starting from the back of the 14-car field, and Mike LaMarra took over to bring the No. 73 Honda Civic FL5 home to an 10th-place finish.

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“Mike LaMarra and I finished p10 (from P14). We moved up during the race and drove well but the result just wasn’t there.

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Fun was had though. I had my first laps on a classic track. I got to race with great friends and the best crew in the business.” Said Dr. Will Tally

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As for Friday’s qualifying session, the No. 73 struggled, starting last (14th) in the 14-car field.

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Earlier in the day in the two practice sessions, here’s how the 73 did:

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•     In the first practice, LaMarra and Tally were 11th-quickest with a time of 00:54.789.

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•     In the second practice, LaMarra and Tally dipped a bit more to 12th-quickest with a time of 00:55.775.

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NEXT UP:

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LA Honda World Racing’s next IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge event is August 3-6 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. After that, there are three other races left on the Michelin Pilot Challenge schedule: Virginia International Raceway (Aug. 25-27), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Sept. 15-17) and the season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (Oct. 11-14).

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