Big Goal for us here at the Autotechnic Camp! We made it to IMSA Pilot Challenge Daytona on the Rolex 24 weekend. This was a one off event for the team to test the waters. Everything was new for us at the start of 2023. New hauler, new cars, some new crew, some new drivers, new track and new competition! Oh yeah and most importantly my first chance to be my boy Rob Walkers co-driver!!!
We knew heading into Qualifying that we were not showing the pace we needed to be on the pole but I gave it everything we had. I did manage to hit my eclectic lap maximizing what we had seen out of our car that weekend. Was only good enough for a mid pack starting spot.
Race start went well, but shortly after the start the race went full course yellow! Every car in front of me and about half behind me made the dive to pit lane for fuel and tires. At this time I would inherit the lead from the faster cars that were now all right behind me! Wow did it lead to and interesting couple of laps. Heres me taking the Green flag at the restart!
Each lap was a mega fight of the infield to the bus stop! I could hold my in the infield but we didnt seem to have the power we needed in the middle of our power band. 5th-6th gears were strong which gave me the ability to fight back after bus stop on the way to start finish. Heres a photo showing me fighting to hold the lead.
Ultimately it was never going to be the BMW's day! The mustangs were just to fast to combat on this day and ended up winning and dominating the entire weekend across Pilot Challenge and VP. Sad to say but we did DNF due to some new car gremlins. All good we learned a lot and like I this wasn't our day and a good place to knock these hick-ups out.
