SRT Motorsports Racing Manager Gary Johnson and SRT Viper GTS-R drivers Marc Goossens and Kuno Wittmer comment on the first four hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Gary Johnson – SRT Motorsports Racing Manager “We’ve been trying to predict the weather and it’s been difficult to do to say the least. We actually had the 93 car going intermediate rains (tires) and that wasn’t the right choice so they came in and switched out. Right now, it’s raining in Turns 1 and 2 so a lot of cars are going off (track) there. Overall, I think the cars have done really well. The 53 car showed that it could get past some of the other competitors. We are playing a little bit of a safe game here, not stretching the range more than we should. We just want to get the laps in and whittling away on the other competitors.” THE CHOICE OF TIRES WHEN SOME OF THE TRACK IS DRY AND OTHER PARTS ARE WET IS A VERY DIFFCULT DECISION. “It is and the drivers give us some feedback but they are not really aware of what the next half-hour or hour of weather is going to be. Everybody takes a good guess; sometimes you make it and sometimes you don’t.” OVERALL ARE YOU PLEASED WITH THE START OF THE RACE? “I am. The cars have shown good durability. We are right where we need to be on range and the drivers are doing a fantastic job so I’m real happy.” Marc Goossens – No. 53 SRT Viper GTS-R YOU WERE PASSING CARS FOR POSITION WHEN HALF THE TRACK WAS WET AND THE OTHER HALF WAS DRY. “I had a good run. Those conditions, that’s why I asked over the radio what are my lap times compared to somebody else because it feels like it’s that slow. They told me it was way faster than any GT car. It’s good to have that communication because then you know you can pace yourself at the speed that you’re doing but the conditions are changing so quickly. It rains a little bit over there and it is dry over there. I didn’t feel like I was taking any risks. I got into a good flow, into a good rhythm. The car is pretty decent. We just have to look after our tires because we are trying to triple-stint them right now. You know, we have to be cautious. If we get like a triple-stint that’s completely dry and no safety (caution), we may not make it on one set of tires for three stints. It’s something we’ll probably learn later on in the race. These guys prepped the car so well, it’s running right now like a Swiss clock. It’s not moving around on the track at all. Mechanically everything feels fine. So far I’m confident.” (more) Page 2 – In-Race Quotes HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO MAKE THAT DECISION TO CHANGE TIRES UNDER THESE CONDITIONS? “Well, there are a lot of things that come into play. I mean, I could see other people struggle as well. I didn’t feel like I was struggling as much at the time. Our car seems to like the conditions a little better than the others. I guess experience comes into play at that point but I felt pretty comfortable on those slicks all the time.” DO THE CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS EQUALIZE EVERYTHING AMONG THE COMPETITORS? “I think a lot of it has to do with the setup that you run. We know we’re a little slower down the straightaways because of the drag that we have but then we make up elsewhere. Hopefully we can keep making the right decisions throughout the race and just take it from there.” Kuno Wittmer – No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R “The car was working really well in the dry. It was really, really good. I think we nailed a good 24-hour setup. From here on we just have to keep pacing ourselves, a strong pace. A lot of guys are running pretty quick and I don’t think it’s necessary at this point to knock off under four-minute laps. It’s important to keep the wheels straight and the alignment well. That’s basically what I did in the first session – not take unnecessary risks, stay off the curbing and give a clean car off to Jonathan (Bomarito).” WHEN SOME OF THE PAVEMENT IS DAMP AND OTHER PARTS ARE DRY, HOW DIFFICULT IS IT AS A DRIVER TO MAKE THE CALL ON WHICH TYPE OF TIRE TO RUN? “As a driver, you’re always trying to go faster, right? (smiles). It’s tough. Those are really tricky conditions. It was dry going into corner 1, all the way to four or five, then wet in the two chicanes, dry again and then wet again with a big downpour in Arnage. So it was very tricky to adapt.” IT SEEMED LIKE THE START OF THE RACE MIRRORED THE PRACTICE SESSIONS WITH A LOT OF CARS SPINNING OFF THE COURSE. WERE YOU CLOSE TO ANY OF THOSE INCIDENTS? “I was behind one of the Ferraris and he seemed to be running a pretty good pace with me. I was catching him in the corners but down the straightaways, we were pretty good together. It actually helped the motor and fuel consumption; I was able to draft him pretty good. I think we may have gained some gallons there in drafting. As soon as the rain come, he went off the track, the guy in front of him went off and another car went off. It was kind of tricky to see everybody go off but again, they were the first ones through the rain.”
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:03:09 +0000
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