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ALMS, Laguna Seca –
Preview Wow. Time flies. It feels like it was just last month that we were at Long Beach, and here we are at the season finale already. Oh, that’s right, it’s still May. My daughter hasn’t quite graduated from college yet. I didn’t miss summer - thank God. This year, it’s all change for the ALMS visit to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It’s May. It’s a six-hour long race. Its hay fever time in the Monterey Peninsula. Personally, I’m glad that Laguna is leading the way towards longer racing – this is supposed to be endurance racing. Six hours is a good endurance race length. Two hours and 45 minutes is a sprint. 100 minutes is Long Beach. Historically, Laguna has always had two traditional sportscar dates – May and October. Back in the IMSA GTP heyday, the schedule usually included a May visit to Central California and it was a trip I always looked forward to, even before I knew about In-n-Out Burgers.
So what have we got this time? As of press time, we’ve got 36 cars again. Subtract the Lola Aston Martin and add in the Krohn-Risi Ferrari. Most of the rest of the changes involve the addition of third drivers in most of the prototypes and in a few of the GT entries. As we’ve seen before, this circuit lends itself to good racing, as long as the competitors respect it. Some past races have had a caution, restart, caution, repeat… type of format, which is what we had expected at Long Beach. Thankfully and somewhat unexpectedly, that race was very clean – is it too much to hope for the same here? The track surface at Laguna has always been a low grip one, and for those hoping to see some increase in track temperature to help – well, this isn’t the weekend for that. The forecast calls for highs in the mid to high 50’s, but at least there is none of that four letter word starting with R in the forecast. On track, this circuit appears to give an edge to the P2 type of car. With the way the regulations have worked out, I’d expect the same to hold true yet again. Six hours is a long race for Laguna, and lots can happen, but heading into the race it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Highcroft enters as the favorite (sorry Duncan). The P2 chassis (originally as an Acura, now as a HPD chassis) has always excelled here and the Brabs/Pagenaud pairing has been terrific lately. Add in a hungry Mario Franchitti and you got a quite nice combination.
If last year’s race was any indication, Dyson Racing could be quite strong this weekend, as it was last season, early on in the Isobutanol blend development phase. This race should see things come their way. Laguna sees the team finally running at their specified minimum weight and the addition of Andy Meyrick to the usual pairing of Guy Smith/Chris Dyson should put the Lola Mazda in a challenging position.
The addition of third drivers to most of the prototype entries is interesting and greatly adds to the quality of the field. Nowhere is this seen more than with Drayson and Cytosport. The addition of Emanuele Pirro to the Drayson Lola Judd paid off well early at Sebring for the team. The team knew that fuel pick up problems would not let them feature for the entire race, but they were an early highlight, splitting the Peugeots early on. With the recent announcement that Paul Drayson is no longer in his Government position, he can now fully concentrate on the race program, which should start to pay off here at Laguna.
The addition of Sascha Maassen to the Cytosport line up paid off with a P2 class win at Sebring and he returns to a track that he and his boss, Greg Pickett, know well. The underrated Klaus Graff may not be underrated much longer if he keeps driving the way he has been lately. This team is a threat for a podium finish and if things go well, they too can be challenging for the overall. The remainder of the prototype field (six cars total) consists of the Lola AER twins – Intersport and Autocon. Intersport adds Nikolas Konstant to the Field father and son combo, while Autocon will have Bryan Willman/Tony Burgess/Pierre Ehret in the car for this endurance round.
GT again should be stunning. Last year it was a mess at the end, with the famous Bergmeister/Magnussen tussle.
Expect a more gentlemanly race this year, but you never know. Risi is on a roll in the endurance races, having won everything since what seems like Biblical times. Last year, Laguna was not kind to them, being taken out by a slow cat – look for them to bounce back again. The usual suspects ought to be there at the end, if things go well for them - Lizards, Rahal-BMW, Corvette. Both the Corvettes and BMWs are running at reduced weights when compared to Long Beach. This adds in a bit of an unknown into the proceedings, but we do know that the Corvette was quite strong last year, especially in the later parts of the race. An addition to the No. 44 Flying Lizard Porsche for this race is Timo Bernhard, who will be paired with Darren Law and Boss Lizard Seth Neiman. As usual, this class is too close to call. Strategy, as in pre-planned and reaction to what happens on track, breaks (ok, even brakes too) and good old racing fortune will be necessary to come out on top here. It’s an important race for all that aspire to be class champions this season. For Risi, the No. 45 Lizard and both BMWs it’s important to secure good points to come out of the race either leading or keeping close to the lead. For Corvette – well, it’s a chance to really get into the chase and establish some positive momentum. LMPC is in danger of becoming a two-horse race between Level 5 and Green Earth Team Gunnar.
Both are tied so far in points at 46, with Genoa 10 points back. So far, the entry list for Genoa only has Tom Sutherland, Tom Weickardt and TBA entered, so this might be the end of the points chase for JR Hildebrand. GTC is in definite danger of becoming an Alex Job Racing runaway. They hold a 20 point lead in the Team Championship and their cars are 1, 2 and 5 in the Drivers Championship. GMG are trying to keep it close, but it looks to be an uphill battle for them so far.
The cars are on track Thursday afternoon/evening for a practice session, then full, official track action will kick off on Friday. Friday will also see a Corvette celebration marking the 50th anniversary of their first visit to Le Mans. This ought to prove very interesting – some old cars and drivers are always good for stories… Being a California track, it’s another chance to make up for the measly single In-n-Out visit during Long Beach weekend. I can smell the onions already… Gary Horrocks |
