ProCoach

Mike is 5th overall on the GA GT grid at Laguna Seca! Driving the right kind of car...

Veloce Raptor

Hot damn! WELL DONE!!!

analogmike

Certainly the right car for Grand Am!!!

The F cars are competitive with the RSR in ALMS, they should be much faster than a GT3 cup.

fleadh

Thanks Peter!

I was actually hoping to do a little better as I went about 4 tenths faster in practice on Friday, but we took a gamble and went a little too far in the wrong direction on setup. Since it's the track I know the best on the Rolex schedule (raced here 4 times before), I told the team we needed to go for a win and anything else didn't matter.

But either way, it doesn't matter as I believe we're being sent to the back of the field because the car was to low after qualifying (.003 inch, lol!). Strangely enough, when we unloaded on Thursday we were rite at the minimum, then passed the first tech inspection fine, then actually raised the car Friday (to improve balance).. so it's strange that we're to low the next day.

Btw, the Rolex GT cars are about as fast around Laguna as a GTC car (because of the tires).

-mike

ZSA Motorsport

great job mike.
yeah those conti slicks are like sand paper. the hoosier R6 is probably faster.

grreat job.

GuyIncognito

IIRC the 458 in ALMS is purpose built, the 458 in GA is basically a Challenge car with some mods.

at any rate, well done Mike! good luck today!

dp35

Heartbreaking ending to a great race by the 03 Ferrari - they ran out of gas on the last lap while running second.

I've been a fan of Mike since he went to the SCCA licensing school with my brother last year. He's done amazing things quickly, and represents what club racers like me would be doing if we had the resources. Can't wait to see what he accomplishes.

jrgordonsenior

Thanks for the explanation. They didn't say a word about that car at the end or anytime for that mater. They ran a great race, apparently just a few cups of fuel short....

ProCoach

Hear, hear! Congrats, Mike.

fleadh

Thanks guys! If you're bored, here's my qualifying lap on youtube:


Car was kind of a beast to drive at the time.. we got it a little better for the race. :-)

-mike

fleadh

Btw, here's a couple more in-car videos from the race if you're bored:

Start and 1st lap:

Few laps early in the first stint:

John Edwards is an animal in traffic.. I have a lot to learn about getting through slower cars quicker while losing as little time to the leaders as possible.

Was a bummer to go from dead last to almost a podium, but we definitely left our mark on the weekend so it was fun. Hoping to do the entire season next year.. we'll see what happens!

-mike

gomez1

Great driving Mike! Looks like a hell of lot of fun.

analogmike

You get a lot of wheelspin coming down the corkscrew, pretty scary! I have not noticed that before but I usually see Porsches which have better traction.

fleadh

Ya, the 458 doesn't put the power down nearly as well as the Porsche's (or have as much straight line speed!). It's pretty good in the high speed stuff and under braking+corner entry, if you can get the setup rite. It seems way more sensitive to proper setup and changing track conditions than the Porsche's I've driven. It's also, IMO, slightly harder to drive over the limit.. the Porsche feels like it reacts a little slower and is more manageable where-as the 458 requires really quick hands (only car I've ever spun off backwards on a race weekend, at Watkins Glen in qualifying on my last lap).

Also, just for future reference, the 458 Grand-Am car starts life as the 458 GT3 car from Ferrari. The rollcage is beefed up for Grand-Am, rev limiter reduced to 8k from 9k, front aero blocked off, smaller rear wing installed, TCS and ABS removed. The GT3 car has a different transmission than the Ferrari Challenge car (I've driven both). The GT3 car has a real racing gearbox w/ a clutch pedal (only used for starting/stopping).

Also, keep in mind the GT3 car was primarily designed as a sprint car. It doesn't have cockpit adjustable sway-bars and a bunch of other "endurance" related tweaks that some of the other cars in the Rolex GT class have.

The Ferrari Challenge car is almost identical to the street car, with the exception of safety items and some suspension tweaks to support slicks instead of street tires. It's only got 2 pedals (brake/gas) and TCS (fast guys turn it off)/ABS. A Ferrari Challenge car is really really fast, since it's unrestricted/limited 570hp, awesome e-diff and pretty good aero from the factory/stock underbody. It runs the same lap times at Lime Rock (and Laguna, I *think*) as the Rolex GT cars (with Am drivers, like me ).

-mike