Marc Bunting, who along with Dominic Cicero II ran in the #57 car, concurred.
Homestead is always a difficult track for car set up due to high temps, and the combination of oval and infield track configuration. We never did get the set up right on the car and that clearly showed in our finish. But the crew did a great job on pit stops and that kept us in the race.
Despite the set-up setback, Rice felt the team had a shot at a top 10 finish but for one missed opportunity.
The #97 car ran superbly in the early going and we were able to move up several spots with good traffic management and by avoiding contact on the many re-starts. We timed our final full stop under yellow, and within our fuel window to run to the end, but an unfortunate miscalculation caused us to narrowly miss clearing pit out prior to the pace car reaching start finish which cost us at least a 6th place finish.
While the desired results did not come for this team this time, Rice suggests getting where the team wants to be may be an uphill battle due to current race regulations.
The rules as they currently stand do not allow us to keep pace with the Mazda and front running 997 Porsches. This is obvious to Grand-Am and I’m sure they are weighing their options to keep GT from becoming a one or two mark series.
The Stevenson crew and drivers are doing everything we can to put the most competitive Corvettes on track however, if the Corvette can’t keep pace on straight line speed then we have no chance fighting it out with the front runners.
Rice also voiced his opinion on the number of yellow flag caution periods in this race, a marked departure from the prior round in Mexico where the entire race was run under green flag conditions.
The race was interrupted by several cautions resulting from cars being stuck in the gravel. I’m not clear why the traps at turn 1 and 8 are there as there is ample runoff room. If high grip paving were used there instead, it would suffice to protect both driver and machine from harm while not disrupting the rhythm and flow of the race.
Round four of the series will be at Virginia International Raceway at the end of April. The team will use this welcome four week-plus break in the schedule to work on maximizing the capability of both cars. Rice is already looking forward to getting back into it with the rest of the GT field.
I’m looking forward to running VIR next month, which is a good track for us, and hopefully circumstances will allow us to compete at the sharp end of the grid. Meanwhile the team will be working hard to insure that our cars are the best they can be.
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The VIR 400K race will take place on April 29th.
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