Hah, thanks guys, that means a lot! It's *so* hard to compete with the fastest guys, but it'll make it that much sweeter once we do. -mike
Just a couple in-car videos from Long Beach, thought you guys might like. Start of the race (we need launch control!!!). We went FCY after the 4th corner because of a pretty heavy crash before the fountain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE1cc-ks_98 Last 3 laps of the race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87fbotdunKg -mike
Hah, terrible to say but I wasn't even sure. I had to look it up on the website.. 9th. Still a lot of room for improvement in me and the car. -mike
Just an update for those who were interested in PWC -- I'm returning to the series at Sonoma on August 22-23 w/ a new team: Scuderia Corsa. They're exploring PWC for the future and since it's a home race for both of us, it just made sense to do it together. Scuderia Corsa Confirms Expansion to Pirelli WC - Sportscar365 We've already tested there together (and I tested the GT3 there before St. Petersburg). The race weekend should be fun! If anyone's going to the race in person, feel free to stop by and ask for me if you'd like a quick tour of the car! ps: I'm still close to the ESM guys, but they're focusing on LMP2! -mike
very cool Mike! any plans for Petit LeMans at the end of the year? saw your tweet about Bathurst. that would be a hell of an adventure...I hope you find a ride.
Thanks! No plans for Petit yet, but I hope to find a GTD or LMPC seat. It'll be a fun race this year with the combined series. I'd like to keep my streak of podiums there intact! Also, I think I forgot to post this before, but here's a few laps in the GT3 Ferrari at Road America w/ the ESM guys at a test we did a few weeks before the PWC race weekend (didn't end up racing, but my last lap in the video on tires that had over a race distance was faster than any official lap posted that weekend!!). When Tudor finally allows full GT3 cars into GTD, it's going to transform the class and the GT racing in that series. Such a fun car to drive! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU5OgaqRe9w -mike
Congrats Mike. It is great to see that teams are identifying you as a consistent go-to guy when there is a 458 ride available. Couple questions. Is the Pirelli car a GT-3 spec or what? Is the GT-3 ever gonna be the accepted spec for sports cars in the US? It seems the powers that be don't want the GT cars to be faster than the prototypes and that means they will always restrict power. Most of the exotic sports cars will be 600-700 hp by the end of this year and it really would be nice to allow them to use the motors potential on the track. How much would a 700hp 458 with lots of downforce at about 2200 lbs get your adrenaline flowing? Are you gonna be at COTA? I may be down there shooting. The new format for the WEC and US series will be interesting. I personally would love to see AF Corsa start seriously fielding a team in the US. You'd be the right guy to get the seat. For the 36 hours of Florida and Petit they could fly over Bruni or Fisi to share the seat. But keep some seat time in the prototypes because with the serious talk of Ferrari building another it could get interesting. I was shooting most of the IMSA series when the 333SP was kicking tail and the thought of another run is exciting. Sorry for rambling. Keep us informed and best of luck. Bob
Thanks! Was a really fun weekend.. Scuderia Corsa is a really good team. Top notch. We came really close to a podium on Sunday, just ran out of time at the end. Here's some footage of Saturdays standing start from my helmet cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCHxp6OjYY0 I have a bunch of footage from the race I'll post on youtube later once I go through and trim everything. The camera was accidently turned off on sunday before the race which is a shame.. that had the best action. -mike Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great driving. Round 14 was the most exciting race so far this season. Will you be driving at Miller Motorsports Park at the season end race? I'm looking forward to being there.