After announcing our 12 Hours of Sebring plans with Racers Edge, last week was our opportunity to test together for the first time in preparation for the race next month. We had a fantastic day: not only was the weather ideal, but the team and car were flawless all day long—and all night! It was a day packed full of objectives to achieve. We started bright and early and ran all the way until 10pm, with just two short breaks for lunch and dinner.
The test was my first time in the Racers Edge Acura NSX GT3, and I had a lot of anticipation since I hadn’t driven the car before, but my co-drivers—Ashton Harrison and Kyle Marcelli—already had experience in it. I thought the car was very intuitive to drive, which made it easier to go fast quickly.
Debriefing as a team made for an even more effective day.
Rather than doing the coaching on the initial runs, it was fun to be the one studying overlays and learning to adapt to the car! After a couple of short runs, it was rewarding to be able to up the speed and start giving feedback on setup changes to further our progress. All the studying I did before the test—like learning where all the buttons and switches are, reviewing in-car video and making track notes—really paid off.
A lot to study and be fluent with.
We were at Sebring with other GTD teams who were also testing, so that gave us a great indication of where we stand with the competition. Corvette Racing was there, and that team is an absolute icon of sports car racing. It’s thrilling to be in the same class as the team that Ashton was a fan of as she was growing up!
It was fun to work with Kyle for the first time, too. We’ve been around the same series for a long time, but Sebring will be the first chance we’ve had to be teammates. It was rewarding to work with him and to be able to put our heads together to continue improving the car. Kyle was also able to dive into coaching Ashton when I wasn’t available, and it was beneficial for her to get feedback from different perspectives.
Ashton had a terrific day, besting her previous fastest time at Sebring, which she set driving the Acura there last fall. As we got into the night driving, her pace and comfort in the dark also increased significantly.
It was a great day from a car, team and driver performance standpoint. This test was a really constructive one that we can build on. We loaded up a shiny red car at the end of the day with a lot of positive progress and data to go with it. With a successful test completed, the team can now continue to work on the finer points as we look forward to the 12 Hours of Sebring!