TruSpeed Motorsports will race for the Pirelli World Challenge Championship this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA, in round 11 of the season. Patrick Long, driver of the #45 PrivacyStar Porsche, holds a 185 point lead over second-placed James Sofronas with two races left to run in the season. With a maximum of 140 points available in a World Challenge race, TruSpeed is taking a relatively conservative approach to the remaining two races of the season, and is looking to maximize its results. Long’s sweep of the twin-bill at Infineon Raceway two weeks ago has him carrying the maximum “success” ballast permissible by the rules at an additional 200lbs., but he feels the Laguna Seca circuit should suit the nature of the Porsche GT3s, despite the extra weight. In addition to Long’s 200lb. weight penalty, the Series has mandated that all Porsches in the field run 50lbs. more ballast than they did at Infineon, making the minimum weight for the cars 2900lbs, and 3100lbs. for Long.
Patrick said, “No question, you feel 200 extra pounds in the Porsche, but the good news is that because the Series’ rules dictate that the top 5 finishers at each race gain success weight, effectively our main competition is getting closer to the weight of my car, as I’m maxed out. Because our car has less horsepower than the Corvettes and Cadillacs, we’d be at a disadvantage on a circuit with lots of long straights, but we feel that the twisty nature of Laguna Seca will play to the Porsches’ strengths. It’s hard not to love racing at Laguna with all the elevation change and the passionate sportscar fan base, so we’re really relishing this coming weekend.”Rob Morgan will look to improve on his 11th and 10th place finishes in the #46 Entrust / TruSpeed Porsche from Infineon Raceway, and Tomy Drissi will return to drive the #47 Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked / TruSpeed Porsche again. Since joining TruSpeed, Drissi has equaled or bettered his results from the early part of the season. With two races left out of 12 on the season, TruSpeed leads the team championship and is helping Porsche close on the manufacturer’s championship as well.
Team Manager Tyler Tadevic said, “It’s always a shootout at Laguna Seca, and we don’t expect this weekend to be any different. On paper, we expect the all-wheel drive Volvos to be our biggest competition this weekend, but there’s no way we can forget about the Cadillacs and Corvettes. It’s been great to see Patrick stay competitive even with the maximum weight penalty, and we’re confident that all three of our cars and drivers are capable of running in the top five at Laguna. It’s such a momentum track that it ought to favor the smoothest driver instead of the driver with the most horsepower on tap, and we feel like we’ve got a good baseline setup to start from. At this stage of the championship we’re focused on maximizing results instead of outright race wins, but it’s all still to play for. We’re excited to show well for our guests from PrivacyStar and Entrust too, we’ll have a number of them in attendance and hopefully we can deliver for them.”
The Pirelli World Challenge Series races this Sunday, September 18, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Live streaming of the race will take place on Sunday at 2:30pm PT, at http://www.world-challengetv.com Television coverage will be broadcast delayed on October 29, at 4pm ET on Versus.
Source: Truspeed Motorsports
Photo: Mark Weber
