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Round 2 of the IVRA Clubsport took place yesterday around the brilliant Road America track. Once again four classes spent an almost incomprehensible amount of time practising and preparing, and that was shown early in the week with how close the field spread was.
The #56 had come away with the win in round 1 after penalties for the on-track winner, and had high hopes coming into round 2, while the #456 were aiming to get their season off to a proper start after a tough first round.
A disappointing qualifying session for Jason Dilworth put the #56 onto 10th on the grid while feeling that at least 5th was possible. That put the team onto the back foot early on, in a train of cars behind the #33 car that was clearly built for the straights and very difficult for anyone to overtake. That situation lasted for the whole first stint, and it became more and more clear that we weren't going to be able to rely on pace alone to get a good result.
In the meantime the #456 had been qualified P17 in the Sport class by Ryan Hamilton, and had also had a solid early stint, moving up a few places and keeping the car completely clean.
The first safety car happened on lap 25, just 2 laps after the #56 and the rest of the LMP3 field had made their first stops and wouldn't need to pit. The #456 however had run close to the end of the tank and had to head through the pits while they were closed and take a minimal penalty for that.
The #56 car took an early gamble though, with Tom Stanley as race engineer realising that a top up now could be very useful when it got to the half way point – where the regulations give a bunch of championship points – but only if there was another safety car. That turned out to be exactly how it played out, although that second safety car came at a point that made it much less than easy. The car grabbed 2nd place at the halfway point, and a good haul of points.
That decision came with the downside of taking a pit stop straight after that second safety car, and take the pain of being half a lap behind the pack for the next section of the race. At this point Lochlan Bearman had taken over, and patiently ticked off the laps while the team waited for something to happen in the race that could get engineer us back to the front for the end.
Another green flag stop was followed by the third safety car, and a chance to get into a good position for the end. Another top up, but shorter than our rivals, allowed Lochlan to exit that final safety car in P3. This was when our lack of outright pace came back to play it's part, and some incredible racing over the next few laps with a number of teams ensued. Positions were being traded corner by corner, with the #56 at times dropping back to P9. Ultimately keeping the car clean and facing the right way, and a heart in mouth moment with the #92 car and a Cup class car, meant that Lochlan was able to bring the car home in P4. That was likely the best we could manage with the pace deficit on the day, and a great haul of points which should see the car leapfrog to the top of the championship table.
The #456 had a couple of minor strategy calls that went the wrong way, but ultimately finished a couple of places up from where they started, in P15. The Sport class is incredibly competitive in this series, filled with the best of the best GT4 class drivers, and so Ryan, Håkon Eide Lindmo and Tom Marton can all be very proud of their work so far as they build towards some great results.
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