Kyle Gimple Lime Rock Bound with C360R Audi S3

[Audi S3 News]

Since his Lime Rock Park IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge debut in 2011, Kyle Gimple has made four trips to the 1.5-mile Connecticut road course, racing in four very different kinds of cars. And he is looking forward to the fifth.

He first ran a Mustang in 2011, followed by a Mazda MX-5 in 2012 and then the Compass360 Racing Honda Civic in 2013 & 2014. The quick bullring circuit has been a strong one for Gimple, who has finished among the top-10 in all but one of his five race events at the track.

Added to that list - and to his podium statistics - is the Compass360 Racing Subaru that Gimple added to the tally last year when he and former co-driver Ryan Eversley took part in both the ST and GS class events. Gimple impressed with his return to GS action in the Subaru, muscling to a strong runner-up result as he drove the closing stages of the race.

This year, Gimple adds yet another new racing machine to his Lime Rock resume as the Compass360 Racing team brings the No. 75 AERO Advanced Paint Technology/Children?s Tumor Foundation Audi S3 to the track for its inaugural run at the track.

Gimple will once again be slated for closing duties in the all-wheel drive machine as he has paired with Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge rookie Paul Holton in the Audi effort.

Since debuting the Audi S3 earlier this year at Sebring International Raceway, Gimple and Holton are still chasing a top-10 result. The team has worked through a variety of issues that come with fielding a brand new car, and the group has continued to learn more about the car and improve it each time out.

?We are in an all-wheel drive car now and if we can get our S3 to do what the GS Subaru did last year I think we?ll be in good shape,? said Gimple. ?We just have to make sure we have the electronics figured out as we continue to learn this new car. The downhill at Lime Rock is so fast, so we have to make sure we have everything working well there for the run into Turn 1.?

New at Lime Rock for this year is that both the GS and ST classes will race at the same time. Traditionally, the two classes have run separately at Lime Rock Park. The event will also be 30 minutes shorter in length than what the series has run over the past five races.

As Gimple returns to a track that tends to suit him well as a driver, he is optimistic about a positive result in Saturday?s 2-hour race which sees the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series enter the second half of its 10-race season.

?I like racing at Lime Rock, so we?ll see what we can do,? said Gimple. ?It?s a quick lap and with both classes on track, we?ll be pretty busy with traffic looking ahead and running our own race, but we?ll also constantly be looking in our mirror in order to be mindful of the GS class. It?ll be challenging but I?m looking forward to it.?

The two-day race event will be a quick one at Lime Rock Park with a 15 minute ST-only practice session set to begin at 10:15 AM Friday. Two combined sessions will be held ahead of qualifying which is set to take place at 4:10 PM ET.

The 2-hour race will begin at 10:00 AM ET and will be streamed LIVE on IMSA.com. FOX Sports 1 will televise the event on Sunday, August 2 and 12:00 PM ET.