Tom Chilton and Hayanari Shimoda dominated the final round of the ALMS at Laguna Seca on Saturday, winning comfortably in the Zytek after Tom had smashed the qualifying lap record at the track to claim pole.
It was the Zytek team’s third attempt this season at a successful appearance in the American series having experienced disappointment and frustration previously at Mid Ohio and Road Atlanta. This time it all came good with Tom and Hayanari able to convert their undoubted speed into a dominant victory.
Without any major dramas or problems all weekend, the team could again demonstrate the competitiveness of the Zytek and it was no surprise that Tom, qualifying the car for the first time here, grabbed pole position. What was amazing though was how quick he went, breaking the five year old qualifying lap record by over a second. Tom was obviously pleased:
“ That was a great feeling. A predicted perfect lap on the computer telemetry was a 1min 14.7 secs and I managed a 14.1 so I’m really pleased. The conditions were good, there was less sand on the track than in testing and the car felt fantastic. “
Tom had the job of starting the race for the team and after initially having to yield, losing the lead briefly, he took full advantage of an early pit stop by the leading Dyson entry, to take over at the front of the field. Once he was leading, Tom settled into a comfortable pace and held on to his advantage after a spate of safety car periods. Under pressure every time at the re-starts from the vastly experienced drivers in the Champion Audi team, Tom never made any mistakes and at the end of his double stint, almost two hours of racing later, he came into the pits and handed the car over to Hayanari.
After their pitstop to change drivers, tyres and re-fuel, Hayanari re-joined the race in 5th place and rapidly started to make ground on the cars in front. He caught and passed the Dyson and as the leaders also made their last pitstops, Hayanari was back in the lead. He too drove superbly and taking advantage of no safety car periods, built up a sizable gap between himself and his pursuers.
The laps went by and with every one the advantage grew, the Zytek was comfortably the fastest car on the track and as the flag fell after four hours of racing, they had scored a dominant victory.
Celebrating with his jubilant team, Tom was full of praise for the work everyone had done. It had all been worth it;
“ I’m so happy for the whole team. They really deserve this. After the races at Mid Ohio and Road Atlanta we all thought we could win out here, but to actually do it and stand on the top step of the podium is fantastic. It might have looked quite comfortable but we had to push hard, I really drove my heart out today and Hayanari drove brilliantly. The boys in the team were working on the car till midnight some nights and then back in again at 7.00 in the morning. It has been a really hard challenge, but well worth it. “
This was the second victory of the year for Hayanari and Tom driving the Zytek together. Their win at Nurburgring in the European series back in September helped to put the team currently first in the LMES Championship. The unchanged team will be aiming to win the title in the final round at Istanbul in four weeks time.
It has been a fantastic year so far for Tom and to help win that Championship would be a great end to a very successful season. The race around the Formula 1 Grand Prix venue will take place on November 12th.
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