A Race Engineers' Perspective
Rick Mayer, race engineer of the Risi Competizione No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM team, gives us a preview of this year's America's Tire 250 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, September 23-24, 2017.
Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) and Toni Vilander (Finland) will pilot the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTLM in Round 10 of the 2017 International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series for the GTLM class. They finished third in both the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January 2017 and the 12 Hours of Sebring in March, followed by a DNF in Long Beach, COTA and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team recently finished third at VIR.
General: Laguna Seca is a 2.24-mile long permanent road course that resides in the very picturesque Laguna Seca State Park outside of Monterey, California. The track has several long duration medium to medium-high speed corners and a low top speed of 240 kph or 150 mph, one of the lowest top speeds of all the tracks we run. The track has some elevation changes, including the famous 'Corkscrew' turn, a steep drop away over a blind 90-degree left-hand bend that immediately sweeps away to the right. It's the signature corner complex of the track.
GTLM competition: Last year Ferraris were quick here but Ford won the race on fuel mileage. The BoP (Balance of Performance) changes since last year have the competition closer regarding fuel capacity. Porsche received an engine air restrictor increase for this event. This will help them more at Petit and next season then here at Laguna. Porsche will be quick here if they decide to show all their potential. They had the fastest straight speeds last year at this event and have more power and a new car this year. Corvettes were fast at VIR, after their air restrictor increase, and should be quick here as well. Corvette has the largest BoP power increase compared to last year of all the cars in GTLM. Corvette and Porsche should be the fastest in the speed traps. BMWs were very fast at VIR and they will be quick here at Laguna, they have good power and the track has a low top speed. The BMWs larger frontal area (more drag) will only be a small deficient here.
The Track: The surface is relatively smooth as the weather is very consistent all year round but the surface is abrasive on tires. The general grip level is typically low due to one of the big issues at Laguna which is that sand surrounds the track edges, as opposed to grass at most permanent road courses. As the higher downforce cars run near the edge of the track (or unintentionally off it) the sand is sucked onto the surface which makes the track low grip and slippery, and not always predictable. A moderate wind will also bring sand onto the tarmac. Shortly after the start, the track usually has only one racing line; it's difficult for GTLM cars to go off line to pass (or get passed by faster classes) and retain any grip. If you go, or are forced, off line it takes several laps to clean the sand off the tires. The track is also surrounded by gravel traps, a safety feature as there's quite a lot of motorcycle racing here and if you go off into any of those traps you lose LAPS while the safety crew extricates you from the gravel.
Setup: Laguna Seca is typically a low grip, under-steer track. The only real change of direction is in the Corkscrew section, but it's relatively slow and falling away downhill. It's a unique corner all to itself and you don't spend any time setting up for this complex, although it does tend to set the minimum ride height for the car; cars usually 'bottom' here, i.e. the floor (or the gear box or the engine sump) of the car touches the surface of the track. A moderately stiff setup is better at Laguna Seca. Pitch platform is important for braking and turn-in, and you need support through the long corners which you can't do with dampers (shocks) alone. This track is hard on brakes. The last corner is quite slow (70 Kph/43 Mph), a good exit is important here as this leads to the main pit straight and to Turn 3, a prime passing area. The car needs good low speed traction to get off the last corner quick for a run down to Turn 3.
The Race: This year's 2-hour 40 minute race will have GTLM's, GTD's and DPi's with no LMPC's. We expect few full course cautions here; historically this race is relatively caution free. Tire degradation is high here and that adds to your pit strategy. There are several passing areas but the GTD's will still make the race interesting for the GTLM's.
Risi Competizione has had good cars here in the past and have entered 20 cars of 15 years, including class wins in 2006 and 2007, and pole positions in 2013, 2007 and 2006. The track suits the Ferrari and hopefully that's the case this year.
Tune-In Information:
The race will broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) on Sunday, September 24, from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. ET. You can also listen to it on radiolemans.com or imsa.tv.
