Team Trans Sport Racing perseveres through a rain-soaked Generac 500 at Road America.
August 11, 2007 Elkhart Lake, WI - The fastest and second longest track on the schedule, Road America, was the venue for the four-hour Round Eight of the American Le Mans Series.
This beautiful track winds through the countryside of Wisconsin and it’s no wonder why it’s often cited as a driver’s favourite.
Click here to see a lap of Road America with Allan McNish in the Audi R8.
Team Trans Sport Racing (“TSR”) knew the Yokohama would be off the pace here in the summer heat. As the racing gods would have it, there was a torrential downpour which dominated the race and all strategy.
Terry Borcheller started in the Porsche 911 RSR and drove a strong race in the hottest part of the day.
Then things changed.
Just as the first fuel window approached, a terrific storm blew over the course.
Tim Pappas took over his stint of the four-hour endurance contest just as the worst part of the rain overtook the track. In the chaos of diving in for rain tires, the team had two miscues – first, pitting under green for fuel it failed to put wets on when the rain was just beginning (it was difficult to judge how bad it would get). Second, after the car had done two laps in the torrent, the team pitted the car for a tire change just before a full-course yellow and lost valuable track position that it could not regain.
The rain-induced full-course caution lasted approximately one hour. Course workers were ordered to take shelter from the rain and tremendous lightning strikes while the cars continued to lap under yellow. When the green flag finally waived again there was less than two hours left in the race. Terry Borcheller took over and drove to the limit of the Yokohama tires before he had to back off and settle for a seventh-place finish.
In all, two pit strategy miscues cost the team track position.
“There was a lot of chaos out there with this kind of weather. Unfortunately, we made some tactical mistakes that cost us big-time – two positions. We’re all really frustrated because for us to finish fourth or fifth here would be astounding given the speed and length of this track. We’ll settle for seventh because we learned a lot out there and brought the car back to Miami in perfect shape,” said team principal, Tim Pappas.
“It’s a shame we ended where we did. The balance of the car was absolutely perfect. Even though our tires can’t do what the other guys are doing, I was able to move the car around so well, but between watching radar for weather, looking at the race data, and trying to duck lightning strikes, the guys in the booth just had some miscues that lost us some track position. I’m disappointed but was really amazed at the performance of the car,” added Terry Borcheller.
The next race for the team is at Belle Isle in Detroit – an important race for all teams, sponsors and suppliers as Detroit is still the jewel in the auto manufactures crown. Yokohama will be brining a completely new tire, construction and compound, which TSR hopes will add the extra step necessary to climb onto the podium.