- The sixth event of the Cooper Tires Championship Series unofficially got underway Friday with pre-event testing at Lime Rock Park.
- Competing this weekend is the Formula SCCA and SCCA Sportscar Championships, who will contest a doubleheader on the 1.53-mile road course.
- Despite a heavy rain shower overnight, testing commenced on a dry track.
- The first of three 25-minute test sessions got underway mid-morning.
- Not taking part in testing was No. 10 Mumm, as the team was replacing the recently discovered damaged engine from Road America.
- With less than half the drivers having raced on the demanding high-speed track, the majority of the teams and drivers used the session to become acclimated to the track and begin working on race setups.
- Following his out lap, No. 18 Bunker made heavy impact with the tire barrier in the uphill section of the track. The driver exited the car, shaken, but unhurt.
- Testing resumed after the tire barrier was repaired.
- At the end of the session, No. 70 Goulart had posted the fastest lap, 153.280 (103.78 MPH). Posting the fastest Sportscar time was No. 9 Walker, with a time of 56.613 (97.292 MPH).
- The second session commenced late in the afternoon under bright sunshine.
- No. 18 has made it out for the session, after the crew repaired the damage from the accident in the first session.
- At the start of the session, No. 97 Futrelle pulled off-course with a broken throttle cable.
- Early in the session, No. 7 Gigliotti front wing came off, damaging the sidepod.
- Pushing their cars to the limit, several cars spun in the session without any damage of note.
- Late in the session, No. 12 Pritchard went way off-course after missing his braking point in the big bend turn.
- At the conclusion of the session, No. 70 was quickest with a time of 52.809 (104.300 MPH). Fastest in Sportscar was No. 9, with a lap of 55.331 (99.546 MPH).
- Concluding the on track activities for the day, the final test session gets underway after 5:00 p.m.
- No. 77 Abbale was unable to get the car fired on the false grid and missed the session.
- Several cars elected to only do part of the session.
- No. 97 pulled off with a mechanical failure late in the session.
- No. 70 once again posts the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 53.248 (103.441 MPH). No. 9 is the fastest Sportscar, with a time of 55.280 (99.638 MPH).
- Qualifying for race one of the doubleheader gets underway Saturday at 3:35 p.m.

Al Craighead
Cooper Tires Championship Series