Hello from beautiful Watkins Glen International!
We are here for Round 5 of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with CSM’s red/white/black Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 RS Clubsport racecars. Morgan continues in the #67 with Gordon Scully (blue mirrors). We also have two sister cars again, #2 with Robert Megennis and Phil Fayer (green mirrors) and the #16 with Zack Veach and Nikita Lastochkin (yellow mirrors).
THURSDAY NOTES:
Set up: Our paddock space is a bit spread out this weekend. The cars are in a pair of garages and the trailers are a couple bays away and across the road. We have a lovely place to watch all the activity.
It’s warm today, around 77, and the big fluffy white clouds are being hurried on their way by a pleasantly stiff breeze. Rain chances for the weekend overall are slight, but weather forecasts seem to be more guesswork for racetracks than population centers. Today looks good!
Practice 1 is coming up at 2:55. All the drivers will get some track time and they are very keen to get going. Every track requires a unique approach, both in driving style and set up. Watkins Glen has an average speed of about 106 mph, whereas Mid-Ohio was only 94 mph. That's a very big difference because Watkins Glen has more long straights and high speed turns.
As a bonus, Morgan’s grandmother, my Mom, is with us this weekend. She’s enjoying the sounds, atmosphere and especially the camaraderie surrounding this team. Later on, we will be joined by friends from our home racetrack too. It's awesome to have family and fans see this all first hand.
Practice Results: With three cars to debrief and reset for today, there is a lot to do. Add to that an unexpected deluge and a very late dinner and here we are at last!
Set up plans for all the cars are moving very effectively in the right direction. It is quite helpful to be able to try out three different things at once. Each car gets a variation and the others move toward the best one for the next session. Morgan in the #67 was 8th in class in Practice 1 and we are quite happy with that.
FRIDAY NOTES:
Practice 2 goes out at 10:05 for an hour. Everyone is excited to get back out there for another go at it. At each track, not only do the cars and drivers need to adjust, but the crews do too. The pit box set up is different almost every time. Last weekend at Mid-Ohio, we had our own out set up with tents and the pits were on driver’s left. That puts tire changes, fuel hoses and the driver change all between the pit wall an the car. It was pretty cramped there.
This weekend, we are borrowing space from a WeatherTech team and using their pit box layout. Figuring out how to organize our equipment in their space this weekend and how people and things move around in it takes a little time. The other factor is that the pits are on driver’s right this time. That puts the driver change on the opposite side of the car from the fuel rig and the pit wall, so it's less crowded there. It’s all getting sorted out.
A weather update suggests it will be cooler than yesterday. Still the big fluffy clouds stream by in the sky with a stiff breeze. Rain seems to be unlikely, but we will only know for sure about that in the moment.
Practice 2 Results: The session got started a bit late due to wall repair after an incident in the prior group. Morgan and Gordon are happier with the handling again after the second practice. It always feels good to drop the lap time by a full second! All is looking good for 4:30 qualifying this afternoon.
Timing Screen Explanation: The Al Kamel live timing screen columns have a ton of information, but it can be hard to draw meaning from it all. Knowing what the columns contain will help you get the most out of it.
Column 1: blue P - Pits; orange O - Out lap; red S - Stationary someplace; green ^ - moved up; red v - moved down
Column 2: P - overall position
Column 3: Nr - car number - colors denote classes
Column 4: Group - sometimes a class has a sub-group, often age based
Column 5 - changeable: Time - car’s best time; Lap - # laps in current stint; Last - most recent lap time; T - total laps run in session
Column 6 - changeable: Gap - time to leader; Avg - dunno; Int - time interval to car ahead
Columns 7, 8, 9: times in each of 3 track sectors - S1, S2, S3; blue: personal best; purple: overall best
Column 10: Pits - # pit stops
In the changeable columns, poke the yellow arrow to change the display. You can highlight the line for a car by touching the line to help you find your favorite cars as the order changes. If you touch the driver name, you get details about the team.
If you rotate the screen to landscape (or watch on a computer), you also get a column between P and Nr for Pic: Place In Class and another changeable column for Car/Team between Driver and Time.
At the bottom of the screen, the words in yellow note cars off course and explain the various infractions and penalties.
Track limits: the car must stay inside the lines defining the track surface. Going outside the lines too many times earns a penalty. 1st: warning, 2nd: multiple warnings, 3rd: final warning, 4th: drive through penalty.
At the very bottom, use the compass icon to show where every car is on the circuit.
Hope that helps explain the data!
Qualifying Results: Gordon qualified the #67 Friday afternoon. Even though GS and TCR qualify separately, with 22 cars in 3.4 miles of road course it’s still tricky to get a nice open patch of pavement to lay down your best effort. Gordon got a decent space for the run and placed the car in 10th on the grid. Pretty sweet for his first appearance at Watkins Glen! Nikita in the #16 will start directly behind in 12th. The #2 with Phil will start 21st.
Dinner with drivers is always entertaining. They laugh, joke around and tell tall tales. Snippets of conversation include:
- Temperatures? I should probably look at those.
- The grinding sound when taking too much curb - ooh that’s an expensive noise.
- Don’t piss off the racing gods, man.
SATURDAY NOTES:
Morning Prep: This morning, we are back early for the drivers meeting. It’s quite warm with more sun than clouds today. No chance of rain. In the quiet before race engines fire up, the drivers and crew laugh together and discuss the last details. They are calm and assured as the last checks and final polish are done. They are pumped and excited for the race to come! They move with purpose and concentration, without rushing, and always with smiles. (The cookies might be helping generate a few of those.) With the sound track of the Porsche Cup race and WeatherTech practice all around, all in the CSM paddock is ready and in good order.
Fan Walk: The crowds of spectators have been growing each day. The fan walk at 10:45 this morning is a unique opportunity for them to get close to heroes and horsepower. The grid is, as always, packed with smiling, happy people. Morgan takes a special moment to give some parents great memories and pics of their little kid sitting in the drivers seat.
After the grid clears and the pre-race ceremonies are complete, the cars start up at 11:35. Leaving the pit lane, they take a couple formation laps to warm up tires and brakes and get mentally set for the green flag to fly at 11:45. We have a 2-hour race today and we are hopeful that the field gets a good clean start. Gordon in CSM’s Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 RS Clubsport #67 (red/white/black with blue mirrors) has the first stint (minimum 40 minutes).
Racing Action: We always hold the breath for a few minutes until the early frantic activity following the start evens out. After an early short yellow things settle down for a while. Gordon's lap times are good, and he is clean and consistent. Exactly when the driver change happens is always decided a bit on the fly and takes all sorts of conditions into account. Just under an hour in, we are 2 turns away from the driver change stop when another yellow comes out and the pits are closed. Ten seconds later and we’d have had such an advantage on the stop but Gordon has to stay out another couple of lap. When the pits open, Gordon hands the car to Morgan in a beautifully executed stop. That’s the value of planning and practice - no mistakes or fumbles.
For the last hour of the race, Morgan does his thing and saves enough fuel to build a one-lap cushion. He is able to maintain his position, not letting the cars in front extend the gap, and save a couple tenths of a liter each time around. If things stay green, we're in excellent shape for the final 15 minutes when it will get quite interesting indeed. Then Morgan can turn up the wick and push hard while the leaders may have to go into ultra-save mode.
Unfortunately, we get no such luck. With just 15 minutes to go, the yellows come out again and the running order is frozen. While we do get a couple more laps under green, there's yet another yellow and the checker comes out on the safety car. We finish in 9th today. It's better than our starting position and the best finish for CSM since the team started. With no penalties or errors, and improved handling, it’s a great day! We are very appreciative of all the hard work the team puts in between races and between sessions to keep everything moving in the right direction. The upward trajectory generates momentum and the #67 and all the CSM cars get stronger every time.
WHAT'S NEXT?
After a quick run back home to bring Mom back, do some laundry, and take care of the usual things, we are right back at Watkins Glen for the SCCA Hoosier Super Tour. Morgan will run the SFR3 with Dog Gone Racing. I think our car just knows the route up here now! Stay tuned!