ALMS - Mid Ohio - Post Race Round-Up

Does anyone see a trend here?

De Ferran wins 4 in a row.  Soaring Lizards win 5 in a row.  Fernandez win 5 of 6.  The Snows win 2 of 3.  Acura 1-2-3 in fron of their “home” crowd and in a race they sponsored…

Does this mean we have domination here?  Not really.  Strong battles were featured in each class

After a slow start to the season, it appears as if de Ferran Racing has got their act together this year.  Their display this race was quite impressive, considering the emotional situation of Gil announcing his retirement.  They led every lap and were never seriously challenged throughout the race.  They have further tightened the points chase in LMP1, now trailing Patron Highcroft by 9 points

Gil - “This event has certainly been an emotional roller-coaster.  For me, and the whole team, Mid Ohio holds special significance after the pit fire that occurred last year injuring Keith "Jonesie" Jones.  In addition to that, I announced yesterday that I will retire from driving at the conclusion of this season.  Throughout the weekend, I was trying very hard to keep my emotions in check.  Certainly it got harder and harder as we closed in on the chequered flag and the end of the event.  This was an important victory for us in many ways.  This is my last appearance as a driver in Mid Ohio.  After many years of trying, finally winning one here is great.  The fans here have been so fantastic over the years and this weekend.  To win at a track that is so close to our shop in Indianapolis, as well as so close to so many of my Honda family means a great deal.  Finally, I dedicate this victory to "Jonesie".

After the race, it was an extremely emotional moment, in which “Jonesie” got up on the car with Gil and embraced.  There likely wasn’t a dry eye in the vicinity.

For Highcroft, it was another race that just didn’t work out.  Scott Sharp kept the Patron-mobile within striking distance throughout most of his first stint, only to fall back significantly in his last few laps.  Once again their strategy was blown out of the window by something that was not their doing.  A tangle with the No. 44 Lizard caused significant damage to the side pod and undertray of their Acura, and they could no longer turn fast enough laps to challenge the de Ferran car.

Scott - "We feel we let this one slip a little bit.  I had a really good stint and was keeping Simon in my sights.  I was working my way through traffic well and I was tucked up behind a Corvette when the #44 Porsche turned in on me.  I was very surprised that it did that level of damage and that made for a tough afternoon for Brabs.  I was hoping it was a bit of a flush hit but it obviously just hit the right spot to do that damage.  The underside of these cars are very important for the aero performance and the damage made the car incredibly loose.  I was hoping with fresh tires that it would be OK, but it obviously wasn't.  We were conserving fuel well and we were in pretty good shape - it was pretty unfortunate."

Intersport finally came through with a good result at home.  Early on Clint Field had their Lola up to a strong 3rd overall with an outstanding drive, but the team eventually settled for a 5th place overall finish, 3rd in class.  Maybe Clint will give a bit of love to Mid Ohio now, as it finally didn’t bite them.

A fraught weekend for the Corsa team resulted in a respectable 6th place finish.  The learning curve has been steep for this team, as they struggle with the complexities of the Hybrid system.  This time, it looks like it was a mechanical component in the hybrid system that let them down early on, but the team fought back in the race, getting more valuable run time on the hybrid system that they are developing.  Any track time is valuable in the development of this new technology.

In LMP2, this looked like it might have been two wins in a row for the No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola Mazda.  Instead, it became a huge downer for the team.  They not only lost the race, but they were eventually beat by a car that they ran last year.

For Dyson and most of the remainders of the race, it all came unraveled with the last of the two cautions.  Adrian Fernandez got his Acura out of the pits before the Dyson car – in fact they got their car out in front of the leading de Ferran Acura, to effectively gain a lap on their pursuers.  The race for the class win was over after the great call and execution by the Fernandez team.

For Fernandez – it was a team effort.  Both of their stops got the team back out into the lead.  Their car may not have had the race pace to lead, but they had the other parts of their racecraft down.  Truly a team effort.   Adrian - “It was good race from all aspects. We are very happy to win this for Acura and Lowe’s and also to put on a good show for the fans. We double-stinted the Michelin tires at the end and had a fantastic strategy in the pits which managed to get us out ahead of the race leader and put us a lap ahead of the guys we were fighting with. That was fantastic. It was great work from the team and I am really proud of the guys. Both Luis and I drove smart and it is great to get another win.”

But those types of races from the Fernandez team have been the norm – they are almost taken for granted.  What was not expected was the success of the Team Cytosport, ex-Dyson Porsche.  A stirring drive by Klaus Graf netted them 2nd in class, and 4th overall.  Team owner Greg Pickett started the race for the team and had a decent stint, but tangled with a GT2 car, earning a stop and go from the race officials.  After the race, he said, “if it hadn't have been for my mistake in traffic by nudging a GT2 competitor which got me a penalty, well, that was really the difference in the race. You're bound to be a little bit rusty but all in all I'm just smiling. It's a good day. I'm almost speechless, which is a little bit rare for me. Klaus did a spectacular job."

Before the stop, it looked like Marino Franchitti was on pace to take the win, but after the stop he was forced to change focus.  No longer could he control the pace – he was forced to guard his position from the hard charging Graf.  That came to an end when traffic nudged the Scot into a spin, to be followed by a final spin, the result of a broken suspension.  Marino - “Our car was rockin’. The stops were great and we were putting on a spirited battle, but our race was ended early for us,” Race over.  But the chance at the class win could very well be because the team did not anticipate the execution of the Fernandez team at that final stop.  It ended up being a case of one veteran team out-reacting another.

GT2 is simply nuts.  The pace car wave-bys from that last yellow gave the No. 45 Lizard and the No. 3 Corvette most of a lap on the remainder of the field.  The battle for the final step on the podium was intense, with about 2.3 seconds separating 3rd through 6th.  As if it wasn’t already hot enough, it appears as if the appearance of Corvette Racing has heated things up even hotter.

On this day, the Lizards could do no wrong.  A cracked and chipped rim held together and the Michelin tire did not deflate; a bum clutch held together the team computed their fuel strategy perfectly.  Pat Long, who shared the car with Jorg Bergmeister said after the race, “when the No. 3 Corvette stopped after us on the first yellow. So when the car came back in, I called Thomas (Blam) and asked him if I missed the call to pit. He didn’t even answer me but said to get ready for the last restart. Toward the end, I kept asking Thomas ‘Do you want me to save fuel?’ He told me to keep being smart and safe. So on the next-to-last lap, the fuel light came on as I was going up to the Keyhole. He said no problem, just go to the reserve. It’s really borderline arrogant for them to be so calm on the radio. There are certain times in my career where I will override a call. In this organization, I never second-guess a call. Thomas is one of the best in the world when it comes to strategy. They know what they’re doing, and I see it in the eyes of Corvette Racing when they were wondering where our second tank was.”

For Corvette Racing, this was an outstanding debut.  Their pace was on target and a second place finish was just reward for the No. 3 car of Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen.  Jan - "It was a really good run and we didn't have any issues.  It's very difficult in traffic, even more difficult than with the GT1 cars. You really have to be smart and aggressive – this wasn't the race to risk the cars, so I lost a little time being too cautious. The GT2 Corvette C6.R is a fantastic race car, and very easy to drive fast. We still have a few minor things to sort out, but I think we're already there."

The team car of the Ollies finished 4th in class, right in the midst the tight pack.  Gavin had a bit of a slow start, losing a few places early, but was able to recover and get back up to 3rd in class. "Those first few laps were frantic.  The first start was waved off, we were forming up again, and it all got rather confusing. A BMW got by me, and then the Ford GT, so I had to hustle my way past them. We had a bit of contact, a little rubbing and banging. I got a few shoves, and I gave them back. GT2 is a great class to race in!"

All in all, a great way to kick things off again.  Their presence helps elevate the stature of the GT2 class, something that was appreciated by all of the competitors.  Even though there was the usual comments about bags of sand and such, these next few races ought to be interesting.  By Petit, the group hugs ought to be gone and all out war will likely break out.  Then it will be really interesting.

BMW was able to show that they are indeed in the midst of the front runners.  It wasn’t easy, but Tom Milner was able to complete his first stint in 4th place, when he handed off to Dirk Muller. Fighting in the tight pack, Dirk made his move late, and was able to finish on the podium again.  “I am really happy for everybody to finish third. It was tough, but we fought a good fight. I tried to stay in the pack and push. The team strategy worked well. We didn’t change tires; Dunlop gave me brilliant tires that lasted. Olivier (Beretta) was really quick on the straights, but I pressured him and pressured him and got him under braking in the last corner. I am really loving it.”

As the team has stated, the early races were for sorting things out – developing the Dunlop tires and such.  Now that is done and they are in full on race mode.  Results like this indicate that maybe a race win could be in the cards for the team yet this season.

One team that came out of the race with a disappointing result is Risi.  Pierre Kaffer struggled early on with the traffic and the low grip nature of the circuit.  Jamie Melo ran the last two stints, recovering to finish 5th in class.  “Our lack of top speed showed; we have less power than anybody, even though our lap times and consistency on the tires and wasn’t bad.  The car is at the limit so I don’t know where we can find any extra power.”  All of a sudden, the Ferrari 430 appears like it may be an old car.

Lost in the battles were strong fights by Wolf Henzler in the Farnbacher-Loles Porsche and the PTG Panoz.  They both ran good strong races, but were only able to come home with 6th and 7th place finishes.  The way this class is right now, people better get used to it – getting a podium finish in this class will be like taking a class win in most of the other classes.

The Challenge class saw a Snow Storm, as the husband-wife pairing of martin and Melanie Snow came through for their 2nd win in three races.  It was a family affair though, as they had one of their sons spotting out on track for them throughout the race.   Melanie - “We tried to put a spotter out every race, and one of our sons wants to be in the pits but he’s too young. So we sent him to the back of the circuit to serve as a spotter.  He’d radio in that there were a pack of prototypes coming up behind me or something like that.  He was quite useful for us.”  

Thankfully Ed Brown was OK after his accident.  He was taken to a local hospital to be checked out – he was released a bit sore and battered, but he was OK.

It’s not easy out there for these Challenge drivers, but for the most part, they have done quite well and really have become a part of the show right now.  GT2 has become way too expensive and too much of a factory race for privateers to compete.  There has to be a way to keep privateers involved, and for now, this appears to be working.  I’d say that the experiment has been a success.  Maybe in the future it could be opened up to other car types?

Now comes the quick turnaround.  Next week is Road America, with their shortened race format.  Take it away Russell…

Oh, as far as our picks - we suck!  Russell chose the LMP2 winner and I got the LMP1/ overall winner correct - I declare a no win rather than a draw in this one!

Gary Horrocks