Next weekend marks the first appearance for the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama at Lime Rock Park, which means the series’ drivers have been looking for creative ways to learn the track before that first day of practice, doing anything to get a jump on the competition.
The IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama joins the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón in their eighth annual appearance at the Northeast Grand Prix – on one of the smallest and most exciting tracks on the circuit.
Kasey Kuhlman, bringing his #15 Wright Motorsports/Kuhlsports/Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati entry to Lime Rock for the first time, believes familiarity doesn’t always bring success. “There is no substitution for seat time on a track,” says Kuhlman, “but sometimes being too familiar with a place can give you a false sense of security. Last year when I joined the series at my home track, Mid-Ohio, I was shocked by how hard I had to work to run with the front of the field. The IMSA drivers were much faster that the club guys I was used to running against! Sometimes, a new set of competitors can make your home track feel as foreign as a place you’ve never been to before – I had to re-learn the place where I drive the most! “My preparation for Lime Rock will consist primarily of watching reference lap video before I get there. The video, combined with lap data and notes from my coach, gives me a fairly good sense of what the place will look like and what the attitude of the car needs to be. Once I get there, we review my in-car video and lap data between each session to make quick adjustments in line, brake points, etc.”
Photobucket.com founder Alex Welch, driving the #76 Porsche for GMG Racing, has a veteran on his side in team owner and coach James Sofronas, who counts Lime Rock as his home track. But naturally Welch turns to the internet for an extra bit of assistance. “I play iRacing, but unfortunately, they don’t have a GT3 car so I use the F2000 to learn the tracks and turn-in points, then use the Riley prototype to see what the tracks are like at speed. There’s also a good video on YouTube, an edited Patrick Long video, that’s really good. But since Lime Rock is James’ home track, everything he tells me is top secret!”
One driver who does have experience at Lime Rock is Alex Job Racing’s Michael Schein, from Glen Cove, New York. He has raced often at Lime Rock, but not in his #21 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. “It’s been about a year since I’ve driven here, but I’m not too concerned,” said Schein. “I’m looking forward to seeing the new configuration – I like the downhill, you can really feel the compression from the G forces and with the extra chicane, we’ll be able to take the downhill flat out. It will make that part easier, but the added braking for the chicane will take some adjusting. “The race is going to have a lot of action – there’s no time to rest during a lap at Lime Rock. You’ll always be near someone or coming up on a turn and there’s no long straight to take a breather. It will be a pretty high intensity race. It will probably be the busiest race of the year, since the track is small and I’m sure there will be a good sized field. I’ll have some friends coming up, since it’s only about two hours from me, so I’ll have some fans there!”
The IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama features semi-professional drivers racing head to head in the largest single-make series in North America. Powered by one of the world’s most successful race cars, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, the multi-class structure of the series teaches drivers essential skills for an eventual career in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.
The series is divided into two classes; the Platinum Cup, featuring the more powerful 2011 and 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, and the Gold Cup, which includes 2005½ – 2009 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. Both classes race on environmentally-focused Yokohama ADVAN ENV-R2 racing tires. Rounds 6 and 7 will take the green flag Saturday at 10:25am and after the American Le Mans Series
presented by Tequila Patrón race at 5:00pm. Live timing, news and schedule information is at http://www.imsachallenge.com/.
Source: IMSA
Photo credit: friedrichphoto.com/IMSA
