Throwback Thursday: P.J. Jones still holds Lime Rock track record

It’s one of those ultimate records that will almost certainly never be broken – at least not in our lifetimes. It’s the lap record at Lime Rock Park, set 22 years ago during an IMSA race weekend. It was astounding at the time, yet even more so now, when you know the context in which the record was set, understandable only in hindsight.Forget the word “context.” More like “restraints.”In 1993, Lime Rock was bumpy. Seriously bumpy. For all intents and purposes, it hadn’t been repaved since the track opened in 1957. But it wasn’t like one year suddenly everybody realized, “Hey, Lime Rock is pretty bumpy!” Rather, it had gradually, slowly, inexorably gotten more and more moon-like and was considered, you know, this is Lime Rock.

On top of that, the famous Uphill corner had been modified by the addition of the “Morton Chicane” curbing halfway up the hill. It had been installed in 1989, one year after John Morton’s Nissan GTP flipped at the crest. IMSA GTP cars were seriously fast and the classic Uphill corner was just too steep to be safely negotiated. The chicane in the Uphill was basically a first- or second gear right-left with an off-camber exit!Those were the conditions when the IMSA Camel GT show came to town on Memorial Day weekend, 1993. P.J. Jones (one of Parnelli’s sons) and Juan Manuel Fangio II were driving for Dan Gurney’s All-American Racers team, piloting Toyota Eagle Mk III GTPs. Of that time, Jones says, “Back then we had 900 horsepower, 10,000 pounds of downforce, tires that were (narrow) ... carbon brakes. We would go to tracks and break IndyCar records. That was such a fun time.”

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 Saturday, May 29, 1993: In qualifying for the race – terribly bumpy track, a chicane in the middle of the Uphill – Jones turned a lap in only 43.112 seconds. That’s average speed of more than 123 mph. It was a tremendous, terrific effort, but it wasn’t seen as an outlier. It would probably be broken the next year, everyone thought. Except that the IMSA prototype rules were changed starting in 1994; less horsepower, less downforce, less aerodynamic freedom. The GTP era had ended.The Uphill chicane was removed in 2008, replaced by the optional Uphill complex (a first-gear right, followed by slight bends to the left and right and rejoining the chute between the Uphill and West Bend).Will we ever see IMSA cars get below 43 seconds? It’s possible, but unlikely. It’s stood for almost a quarter-century. But one thing we do know for certain about racing.Never say never.