WeatherTech Racing co-drivers Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen are locked in a three-way tie for the GTD Drivers’ Championship point lead heading to this weekend’s TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Lone Star Le Mans weekend to run Sept. 18-20 at Circuit of the America’s (COTA) in Austin, Texas.
For MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Keen (Charleston, S.C.) the task is simple – out race the No. 94 Turner BMW and the No. 555 Autosport Ferrari. The series has given the Porsche teams a couple of Balance of Performance (BOP) breaks since the last round at Virginia International Raceway. Alex Job Racing has consistently been the top running Porsche team all season. Last year MacNeil posted a sixth place finish at COTA, but hopes for more this year.
“I’m looking forward to COTA because I think Leh and I will have a good run there,” MacNeil said. “I have won there in the past and look forward to going back. The BOP changes help us a bit, hopefully it will be enough. I think it’s going to be a dog fight from here on out. With the five-way tie, it’s going to be whoever doesn’t make any mistakes. It’s going to take a win at Petit (Le Mans, Road Atlanta) to win the championship as well as a strong finish at COTA. We’re going to have to make sure that all of our ducks are in a row for the next two races. I’m looking forward to COTA, but I’m especially looking forward to Petit, because there’s nobody better at endurance races than Alex Job and his team.”
The competition for the championship will have Keen being a little more aggressive.
“We really have the best car going into the last two races of the season just looking at the BOP,” Keen said. “It’s not perfect, but we will make the best of it with some cars not getting enough of a penalty. We will really have to get a little more aggressive now for the championship win, but still can’t risk too much at COTA. It’s important to get through COTA and go for the championship win at the finale at Petit. Then we can go for the Petit win and championship at the same time. Alex (Job, team owner) has a lot of success at endurance races. So if we get through COTA with a good result we will really be poised for the championship win. I have enjoyed my races at COTA and was on the podium in a ROLEX race there. The track is big and fast and low risk. You can really attack the corners and it rewards you for it. With our new front aero pieces I expect the WeatherTech Porsche to be really stout this weekend.”
Team owner, Alex Job, knew from the beginning at Daytona that the GTD Championship would be a battle all year.
“We knew, really, from the first Daytona test in November that the GTD Class was going to be tough,” Job said. “We have three strong cars and three strong teams tired for the championship with two races to go. The Porsche has received a little help from the rules makers so it is up to us to maximize the cars potential for the final two rounds. Cooper and Leh are motivated. They have both been in a points battle like this before, so this is nothing new to the team or the drivers.”