with Goldcrest Motorsports in Fridays Brickyard Grand Prix
No. 17 FOAMETIX/Burtin Racing Porsche GT3 team powers through wet and wild race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Best GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Race Result
Claudio Burtin, co-driver Martin Ragginger and the No. 17 FOAMETIX/Burtin Racing with Goldcrest Motorsports Porsche GT3 team scored career-best GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series race results all around with a top-10 overall and sixth-place GT class finish Friday in the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).
The three-hour time race started under heavy rain with Burtin at the wheel of the No. 17 for an opening driving stint run almost entirely in wet conditions. That didnt keep the owner/driver of the FOAMETIX team from improving seven race positions before handing off to closing driver Ragginger. Burtin had a clean run despite the wet and wild conditions, overcame one minor spin, and managed to give his co-driver an unscathed Porsche in touch with the lead pack.
We are very happy right now, Burtin said. We finished sixth in GT and 10th overall which is very good for a part-timer and the Pro. I got a little too excited and spun the car after over taking four or five cars with four or five more in striking distance. Fortunately, I was able to turn it around and stay out of the gravel trap. The rain was tough, it was a really bad downpour but I gave it to Martin as best I could, and the rest was up to him. The main results were due to the merits of Martin and through the grace of God because conditions out there were very difficult.
With solid strategy calls by the Goldcrest crew in the pits, Ragginger was able to steadily climb into the top-10 as teams frequently had to switch from wet to dry racing tires in the ever-changing conditions. The pit calls and outstanding restarts by Ragginger actually made up for the No. 17 going a lap down in the early running.
It was a very good race for us overall, Ragginger said. I didnt drive here before and Claudio did a pretty good job on the test to make a good set-up. Of course, on a one-day event its not so easy, but we qualified OK. I think Claudio could have even gone much quicker in qualifying but he did a good job in the race and that was what matters. He was quick and was catching a lot of cars in front of him, then he spun which cost us some time, and we fell one lap down. Unfortunately heavy rain was falling when I came in the car but I could overcome 10 cars on the restart and this was the move of the race for us to come back on the lead lap. We have been fighting for so long and finally we finished sixth which is a great result for our team. We showed that we can compete with the quicker Porsches and thanks to FOAMETIX who made this possible for us to race here.
The first featured sports car race to be run at IMS in the legendary facilitys more than 100-year history, the Brickyard Grand Prix was also the finale of the inaugural North American Endurance Championship (NAEC) presented by VISITFLORIDA.com. Burtin and FOAMETIX were among the first teams to commit to the three-race championship in a championship that also included the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Sahlens Six Hours of The Glen earlier this month.
The next event for us is up in the air, but we finished the third leg of the Endurance Championship here at Indy which is a dream come true to race here, Burtin said. We hope its on the schedule again; well be back!
