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GRAND-AM
IN THE COCKPIT: Jeff Segal, Watkins Glen & Montreal
I’m always amazed by the emotional rollercoaster that is professional motorsport...
AIM Autosport Team FXDD overcame an early race incident at Watkins Glen to record solid finishes in the lats two GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series races. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)
I’m always amazed by the emotional rollercoaster that is professional motorsport. In the blink of an eye you can go from feeling like you’re absolutely on top of the world, to the opposite end of the spectrum and feeling like everything has crumbled beneath you and dropped you to rock bottom.
As the GRAND-AM Rolex Series completed its final set of back-to-back races at Watkins Glen and then Montreal, our AIM Autosport Team FXDD group experienced an e-Ticket rollercoaster ride that I think we all would have preferred to sit out!
We arrived at our second Watkins Glen race of the year with a healthy 26-point lead in the Rolex Series GT Championship, feeling really confident about our prospects on the shorter ‘NASCAR’ layout of the track.
This season has shown us that our Ferrari 458 Italia seems to really excel on racetracks with long, fast, flowing corners, which allow us to take full advantage of our balanced handling and excellent tire wear traits. The short course at Watkins Glen has the highest average speed of any road course we visit through the season, so we felt really optimistic that this could be a strong race for us.
Practice was mostly a washout due to sporadic rain showers, but the track had dried in time for qualifying. My co-driver Emil Assentato drove a storming lap to qualify on the second row of the grid despite very little in the way of dry practice.
We had one more practice session after qualifying where we made a few tweaks to improve the car’s handling, and then we had to wait almost 24-hours before the race would begin. So far the weekend was going according to plan, and we were feeling good.
There we were, on top of the world, with a solid points lead and a fantastic Ferrari race car heading into the Continental Tire 200 at Watkins Glen. And then it all went wrong… And quickly, I might add! In fact, in this instance I might rescind my original rollercoaster metaphor and instead describe the start of this race as more of a “Tower of Terror” experience. In the first corner of the first lap of the race, Emil was caught out by a stack-up of cars and received heavy damage to the front end of our 458 Italia.
We were forced to pit immediately, and we went several laps down as the crew went to work patching up the car. Almost before the race had even begun, we were no longer a factor at the front. We watched helplessly as our points lead was nearly halved by the No. 94 BMW which went on to win, and I drove around at the back wondering what would have happened if we were able to be a part of the race for the lead.
On the plus side, our car proved its strength and durability yet again, allowing us to complete the full race despite substantial damage. We actually salvaged a pretty incredible seventh place at the checkered flag, so it wasn’t entirely bad.
In hindsight, all it took was one misjudged corner to bring us shooting down off of our high, and suddenly there wasn’t anything healthy about our points lead as we looked towards the next race at Montreal just a few days later.
Compliments to the team as they did an unbelievable job to fully repair the heavily damaged front-end of our car, no doubt aided by our strong partners at Ferrari and Michelotto for doing the impossible and getting us all the parts we needed from Europe in a matter of hours after the crash.
We also owe a debt to the local Ferrari dealership in Montreal, Ferrari Quebec, who generously allowed us use of their impressive workshop facility for the week to complete the repairs to our 458 Italia.
This proved to be critical as it gave the guys precious extra hours to get the car together before we had to be trackside in Montreal for technical inspection. We arrived at the track a bit later than expected, but the car looked pristine and we were ready to race.
The entire team was focused and determined to get our momentum back at Montreal, and everyone put together a huge effort all weekend, culminating in a fantastic second-place result at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Celebrating a strong podium finish on home soil was a great reversal of fortunes for our Canadian AIM Autosport team, and our turnaround was further aided as our championship rivals, the no. 94 BMW, faced difficulties in the race and ended with a DNF.
So, we left Montreal with our largest points lead of the season – to 29 points – and just two rounds remaining in the Rolex Sports Car Series.
There is still a lot of racing to be done, and our experience at Watkins Glen has reaffirmed that anything can still happen, and this is far from over. Knowing how quickly things can change in this sport, I’m going to savor this good feeling while it lasts!
~Jeff
Follow Jeff Segal at www.jeffreysegal.com and the Jeff Segal Fan Page on Facebook.
As the GRAND-AM Rolex Series completed its final set of back-to-back races at Watkins Glen and then Montreal, our AIM Autosport Team FXDD group experienced an e-Ticket rollercoaster ride that I think we all would have preferred to sit out!
We arrived at our second Watkins Glen race of the year with a healthy 26-point lead in the Rolex Series GT Championship, feeling really confident about our prospects on the shorter ‘NASCAR’ layout of the track.
This season has shown us that our Ferrari 458 Italia seems to really excel on racetracks with long, fast, flowing corners, which allow us to take full advantage of our balanced handling and excellent tire wear traits. The short course at Watkins Glen has the highest average speed of any road course we visit through the season, so we felt really optimistic that this could be a strong race for us.
Practice was mostly a washout due to sporadic rain showers, but the track had dried in time for qualifying. My co-driver Emil Assentato drove a storming lap to qualify on the second row of the grid despite very little in the way of dry practice.
We had one more practice session after qualifying where we made a few tweaks to improve the car’s handling, and then we had to wait almost 24-hours before the race would begin. So far the weekend was going according to plan, and we were feeling good.
There we were, on top of the world, with a solid points lead and a fantastic Ferrari race car heading into the Continental Tire 200 at Watkins Glen. And then it all went wrong… And quickly, I might add! In fact, in this instance I might rescind my original rollercoaster metaphor and instead describe the start of this race as more of a “Tower of Terror” experience. In the first corner of the first lap of the race, Emil was caught out by a stack-up of cars and received heavy damage to the front end of our 458 Italia.
We were forced to pit immediately, and we went several laps down as the crew went to work patching up the car. Almost before the race had even begun, we were no longer a factor at the front. We watched helplessly as our points lead was nearly halved by the No. 94 BMW which went on to win, and I drove around at the back wondering what would have happened if we were able to be a part of the race for the lead.
On the plus side, our car proved its strength and durability yet again, allowing us to complete the full race despite substantial damage. We actually salvaged a pretty incredible seventh place at the checkered flag, so it wasn’t entirely bad.
In hindsight, all it took was one misjudged corner to bring us shooting down off of our high, and suddenly there wasn’t anything healthy about our points lead as we looked towards the next race at Montreal just a few days later.
Compliments to the team as they did an unbelievable job to fully repair the heavily damaged front-end of our car, no doubt aided by our strong partners at Ferrari and Michelotto for doing the impossible and getting us all the parts we needed from Europe in a matter of hours after the crash.
We also owe a debt to the local Ferrari dealership in Montreal, Ferrari Quebec, who generously allowed us use of their impressive workshop facility for the week to complete the repairs to our 458 Italia.
This proved to be critical as it gave the guys precious extra hours to get the car together before we had to be trackside in Montreal for technical inspection. We arrived at the track a bit later than expected, but the car looked pristine and we were ready to race.
The entire team was focused and determined to get our momentum back at Montreal, and everyone put together a huge effort all weekend, culminating in a fantastic second-place result at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Celebrating a strong podium finish on home soil was a great reversal of fortunes for our Canadian AIM Autosport team, and our turnaround was further aided as our championship rivals, the no. 94 BMW, faced difficulties in the race and ended with a DNF.
So, we left Montreal with our largest points lead of the season – to 29 points – and just two rounds remaining in the Rolex Sports Car Series.
There is still a lot of racing to be done, and our experience at Watkins Glen has reaffirmed that anything can still happen, and this is far from over. Knowing how quickly things can change in this sport, I’m going to savor this good feeling while it lasts!
~Jeff
Follow Jeff Segal at www.jeffreysegal.com and the Jeff Segal Fan Page on Facebook.
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