LAW: A Long Way From Daytona to VIR

GRAND-AM

LAW: A Long Way From Daytona to VIR

Brumos Racing Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series star Darren Law files his first column with SPEEDtv.com after a wild weekend at VIR.

Darren Law | http://www.darrenlaw.com | Posted April 28, 2009

After winning the Rolex 24 in January, Darren Law (Left) was all too happy to get the Grand-Am season back under way at VIR. (LAT)

We've just finished our second race of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, at Virginia International Raceway, and the season is finally getting going again.

It started off with such a great win in the Rolex 24 At Daytona! I knew that the Daytona race was big, but I never really knew just how big it was. It was one of the biggest wins of my career and a great way to start our season. The whole team is still on a high from that one; we carried the momentum into this weekend.

VIR was the second event for the Rolex Series, but this almost feels like a new start to the season after having a few months off since the 24-hour. It is tough to have such a long break. Mexico City was canceled and that was unfortunate because I really liked that event, plus I got to practice my Spanish. But with what is going on there, I can understand.

We came into VIR with some changes in the rules – the series took 200 rpm away from the Porsche DPs and also relegated us to a five-speed gearbox. This makes it tough with this engine, as it is smaller than the V8s and we really need the revs to stay up on the power of the motor. We put a lot of hours into working on gear ratios and other things to try to compensate for it.

All in all, we weren’t the quickest, but we were still somewhat competitive. The biggest issue now it that we can still reach a similar top speed but it takes a long time to get there. So we have to take more risk and try to make it up in braking and cornering.

One of the things I love about Grand-Am racing is that it is very competitive. The racing is so close all the way to the finish, and any one of 10 cars can win a given race. You can almost always expect a little contact between cars and we had no shortage of it at VIR.

The start of the weekend was a bit tough for us. It was such a short event – only two days – so it was important to be good right out of the trailer. We had some electrical trouble the first day and this limited how much track time we got before qualifying. The most laps I did in a row on the first day was in qualifying, seven in all. We ended up about .4 off of the second-place qualifier, so not a bad start with the issues we had.

A wild finish last weekend saw Law's #58 Brumos Porsche car finish 3rd. He and teammate David Donohue now lead the point standings as they head into the race at New Jersey on Sunday. (LAT)

During the race, I had a few minor incidents on track during my stint, but we were running a competitive pace and I pitted for the driver change in second position. We switched to David and had a good stop. The strategy is so critical in this type of racing and deciding on when to stop is as important as how quick the stop is. Once David got in, he had a great run and his lap times were very fast.

With a little luck, we had a shot at the win, mainly because the top three cars in front of us had pitted a couple of laps earlier than us. We thought they would not make it to the finish on fuel, so we were hoping for a green race until the end. But we got a late yellow, which meant now everyone could make it and we were bunched up for the final few laps.

As usual, it was a wild restart and David got into the back of Scott Pruett, then Max Angelelli tried to make a dive bomb up the inside. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for us, those two hit each other and allowed us to come home with a third-place finish. It was a little crazy at the end, but another podium is great for us. We now lead the points, which is nice, but it is so early in the season. There is a long way to go and with this series -- anything can happen.

Next it was back on a plane racking up some more frequent-flier miles on my 6 am flight home Sunday after the race. Even though it would have been easier to just stay on the East Coast, I try to get home to spend as much time with my family as possible. Since I am running both the ALMS and Rolex Series, it makes for a very busy schedule – I will have over 20 races this season. When I get back, I am going to have a bit of fun. I just bought my kids a new kart and promised to go run it after school tomorrow.

Our next race is in New Jersey this weekend, so I head back out on Wednesday. New Jersey was tough last year – it was a brand-new track and I don’t think they were totally ready for us, so a lot of things weren’t finished with the facility. I am looking forward to seeing what has been done. This one is important for my teammate David Donohue. It is only about 45 minutes from his house, so it is home track, he will have a lot of family and friends there and it would be great to have a good finish.

Thanks for stopping by and reading! Talk to you after New Jersey this weekend.

~Darren

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.

Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Darren Law has been racing in multiple sports-car series since 1997. He continues to be the man for all series, entering more than 20 races in three countries this year, driving Daytona Prototype and GT Porsche race cars. On several weekends, he'll commute between tracks, alternating stints in the No. 58 Brumos Racing Porsche-powered Riley in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and in the No. 44 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the American Le Mans Series.

Darren has started more Rolex Series races than any other driver (112 through 2008). His credits include the 2001 GT championship, runner-up in the Sports Racer Prototype II class in 2002 and this year's Rolex 24 win. He is always a top contender in the prestigious Porsche Cup, with a close second in 2007.

Learn more about Darren at DarrenLaw.com, his safety and performance equipment sponsor CDOC at CDOC.com, and his safety enhancement gear partners at ShockDoctor.com.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darren Law

DarrenLaw.com

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