The famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the venue for rounds 9 & 10 of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North American Championship. It was an incredible experience to be racing on one of the most famous tracks in the world. And I can tell you, it gave me chills driving over “The Bricks” for the first time in FP1.
FP1: Indy being Indy is a difficult track to test on due to limited test days available. Much of the grid was not able to test before hand so it made it more of an even race for everyone with no prior years of racing or testing. I took the car out first in FP1 for about 12 laps on a used set of tyres to learn the track. We had a bit of oversteer in the first session, but overall it was amazing to be driving at Indianapolis for the first time. We finished the session P8 in ProAm.
FP2: For the second session, we made some changes to help with the oversteer and it was positive. It was also much warmer for this session. This made the driving conditions tricky mixed with Indy’s low grip surface. I jumped in the car second and circulated another 12 laps. We finished the session P8 in ProAm again. We did make a step forward in the session despite finishing P8 again and collected positive notes to makes changes for qualifying.
Qualifying: This was the best session we had all year! It was a very early session at 8am. With track conditions cool, it suited our setup very well. I found some clear space and put in multiple quick laps to put the WorldSpeed #22 car P1 in ProAm and P4 overall! This one felt good, especially with the hard work we have put in all year.
Race 1: I started P4 overall for Race 1. The start was interesting to say the least. I got pushed a little wide in turn 1, putting me out of position for the next few corners. I lost a few spots overall but still had a solid stint. With the heavier fuel load we struggled a little for race pace, but had some good notes for race 2.
Race 2: Sean started race 2 and I hopped in the car halfway through. Sean did a great job in the first stint making up a few spots and having his best race of the season. We then had the perfect caution. It came out around 15 minutes in and lasted until the pit window opened. We as a team thought that as the green flag dropped that the pit window opened. So to save time, we brought Sean in straight away. We had a great pit stop and came out 13th overall from P28. Unfortunately, we got a drive through penalty. Under the rules, we had to take the green flag after the caution. So that cycled us back to P30 and I made up a few spots to again finish P28.
Overall, it was another positive weekend for us and the team. Qualifying P1 in class and P4 in Qualifying overall was a huge step in the right direction. Sean and I are now getting ready to travel to Italy on November 16-19th for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals where Super Trofeo North America meets Europe and Asia to battle for best in the world! Stay Tuned!