Hampshire racer Matt Harris had his first taste of racing in the USA last weekend as he took part in a three-hour sportscar race at the world-famous Daytona International Speedway circuit in Florida. In a last minute deal with the American TRG team, Matt shared a Porsche Carrera with a local driver, and drove for the final part of the race to come home 12th in a field of almost 100 - despite having barely any time in the car prior to the race.
Having successfully driven a Porsche in the British GT series in 2006, Matt had experience of powerful sportscars, but the Daytona circuit, with its high-speed banked corners, was a new experience. Car problems restricted his opportunities to test at the venue prior to the 'Fresh from Florida 200' race, opening round of the 2007 Grand-Am KONI challenge series, but the race itself offered the rising star the opportunity to show his pace.
"I've wanted to race in the United States for a while," explained 21-year-old Matt, from Droxford, near Southampton, "and took the opportunity to go out to Daytona during testing there early in January and talk to a few teams. I did a deal with TRG and had my helmet and overalls with me, but problems with the car meant I didn't get to drive it during the test. When I did drive it we were as quick as anything through the twisty sections, but on the banked part of the circuit we were short of power compared to most of the others cars.
"My team-mate did most of the running before the race and qualified the car, he was inexperienced and we needed to let him have the time in the car. There was a huge field - around 100 cars - and he did well to qualify us 43rd on the grid. He did the start of the race, and I quite relieved about that as I watched all the cars go through the first corner!
"Serge did well and gained places, and I took over the Porsche after an hour of the race. I was still getting used to the car, so was passing some people and getting passed by others, but was running just outside the top twenty when the yellow flags came out after an incident on the track, and we decided to make a splash-and-dash stop for fuel - which was were it all started to go a bit wrong.
"The guy in the pit lane was a bit slow putting out our 'lollipop' to indicate where I should stop, and I saw our other car's one first and overshot our pit - which meant I had to go out and come round again losing lots of places. Once I was back out we were still behind the Safety Car, and as the damage to the barriers took longer and longer to repair, more of the others cars realised that they had to stop for fuel. I found myself passing the pits each lap and seeing cars in there, which meant I was gaining places.
"I had to be in race mode for the final laps and was pleased to set the quickest race lap done by a Porsche. It was good to run up front with the big boys and we ended up coming 12th, which was disappointing but it was a chance to show my pace to lots of the teams there and I really enjoyed it.
"The atmosphere there was great, and the whole paddock was very friendly. I'm looking to go back out for a couple more races, and I'm hoping that will lead to bigger and better things."
Announcements about Matt's plans to race in Britain in 2007 will be made in the near future.
