This past week was another wonderful time at beautiful Road America! On this occasion, I was there for the Sprint Challenge races, and I enjoyed getting to work with Rob Trollinger and Jim Jonsin once again.
We had some incredibly unseasonable weather, with a cool front moving in that saw temperatures in the 50s in the mornings. It was quite the change of pace to be wearing long sleeves in August! One additional benefit to the cooler temps was that the cars had an increased pace because the conditions were so much more suitable than summer heat. Lap times plummeted along with the temperature!
It was a lot of fun for me to run the cars through their paces on the test day, trying different setup changes to optimize things for the team. We had great handling cars thanks to Goldcrest Motorsports, and Jim managed to—once again—come up just one spot short of a podium step in both races. It was a gratifying finish for him, especially considering the size of the field, but at the same time, it keeps him looking for that elusive podium result.
In all, it was a successful event, with clean race cars at the end of it and a lot to be thankful for. At the same time, we have things we’re really hungry for at the next outing!
It will be another short week at home for me, with the excitement building for this weekend’s Monterey Motorsport Reunion at Laguna Seca. I’ve been fortunate to participate in this event a couple times in the past with Mazda Motorsports, and I’m excited to be heading out west, where it looks like we’ll have some more cooler weather.
It’s going to be great getting back into the 792 GTP car from the 1991 IMSA season. I last drove this car at Long Beach, and it was an absolute thrill with its 600hp-plus four-rotor power plant and massive aerodynamic downforce. I’m looking forward to jumping back in!