'CJ' and No. 12 Norton by Symantec Porsche Ready for GT3 Cup Challenge Doubleheader
The 2012 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama has taken series rookie David Calvert-Jones and his No. 12 Norton by Symantec Porsche to a number of North America's most challenging and exciting road racing facilities.
This week, the challenge for 'CJ' is the 3.27-mile, 17-turn Virginia International Raceway circuit on the Virginia-North Carolina border. The rural, narrow strip of pavement is something of a 'throwback' to an earlier era of road racing, complete with red barns and wooded areas lining a course with significant elevation changes, and it rewards drivers willing to be aggressive.
"It's a crazy track," said CJ. "In two days of driving on it, it's been fun trying to learn it, but it just takes so much to try and master it. If you blow one little bit, it just affects your entire lap. You can drop a half second a lap just mucking up one little corner. It's fun. I'm enjoying it and I'm enjoying the challenge. I was going up through the Esses nearly flat today on new tires and that got my heart racing, certainly."
In this morning's qualifying session, CJ placed the No. 12 Norton by Symantec Porsche third on the Gold Cup class grid for tonight's first race of the doubleheader with a best lap at 1:55.432 (101.982 mph).
"I qualified third and I'm happy with that," CJ said. "I went more than a second-and-a-half quicker than I had all week. It's improving. I did five laps and at that point I decided there was no point in trying to chase it any harder. This is a long race and it's a narrow, tough track that is really hard on tires, so I wanted to save the tire and see how we go with that."
The 45-minute race takes the green flag at 5:10 p.m. ET this afternoon and can be followed on Live Timing & Scoring at http://imsachallenge.com/timing. The starting lineup for Saturday's 45-minute race, which starts at 11:40 a.m. ET, will be established based on each driver's fastest lap in this evening's race.
Race highlights after the weekend will be available on the Porsche IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge channel, located at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5B4D1AC1BFAB87A2&feature=plcp.
