JDX Racing came away from the American Le Mans Monterey 4-hour enduro at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with valuable championship points after a disappointing 5th place finish. After qualifying the gold liveried #11 JDX Racing / Hertz Porsche 5th in the GTC field, a late pit lane penalty resulted in a drive-thru plus 20 second hold, forcing their Porsche GT3 Cup car deeper into the field.
Mike Hedlund started the race and drove a great opening stint, to wheel the JDX Porsche around the historic 2.23 mile Laguna Seca raceway. The yellow flags came out early and often, allowing for pit strategy to play a hand in the early going. The team kept Mike out and shortly after the restart Mike made an aggressive inside move in turn 2 to claim the GTC class lead. Mike brought the car into the pits for the first full service, and only driver change of the day, under the green flag, sending Jan out in P4.
Mike Hedlund said, ” The race started off pretty good, though it was a little hectic especially the first few laps. Once i settled in we made up a few positions on track and with some good strategy we found ourselves in P2 after the first restart. At that point I was able to get by the #22 car on the restart. I then just put my head down and tried to turn good consistent laps. I cruised for the next hour or so, managing to pit the car at the end of my stint in P1. The car was pretty good and I had no issues – and it felt great being able to hand the car to Jan in the lead.”.
Jan Heylen got behind the wheel of the #11 JDX Racing / Hertz Porsche re-entering the race 4th in class. Jan managed to run fast lap times all while having to deal with heavy traffic. A drink bottle problem presented itself late in the race, and in an attempt to solve the problem, the IMSA officials assessed a pit-lane violation that resulted in a drive thru plus a 20 second hold. The penalty proved costly as Jan managed to finish 5th in class.
“It was a challenging weekend for us – we just didn’t quite have the pace to run at the front. At the end without the drive thru penalty, I think we could have had a podium. I was saving the brakes and tires most of the final stint, knowing that these GTC races always come down to the last few laps. I am really proud of the job Mike did today – he started 5th and drove a great opening stint to hand me the car in the lead. It was impressive.”, said Jan Heylen.
Harrison Brix, team Co-Owner went on to say, “Mike drove one hell of a race, with a great move inside on turn 2, getting by the Alex Job car. There were a number of early yellows which played right into our strategy and Mike was able to stay out and cycled his way up to lead the GTC Field. We seemed to run short of luck late in the race after being assessed a pit lane penalty that we honestly felt was unfairly assessed. But these are the highs and lows of racing. We have plenty on our to-do list between now and Lime Rock – and we’ll be back stronger than ever”.
Source : JDX Racing