As we had released it previously, Matt McMurry, three months past his sixteenth birthday, has driven for the very first time a LMPC this former weekend  on the Palm Beach International Raceway. This first testing took place on Saturday and on Sunday behind the wheel of the #38 Tech Performance Motosports Oreca FLM Motorsports.

Matt McMurry had his driving licence since two months only. The LMPC was driven too by Brazilian Raphael Matos and Canadian David Ostella. Raphael Matos, 32, is a proven winner : Star Mazda champion (2005), Atlantic Formula champion (2006), Indy Lights Champion (2007). He has won the 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona with a SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 in the GT category and was 2009 IndyCar Rookie of the Year. David Ostella has won the 2013 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada and the 2013 Sebring 12 Hours in the LMPC category with a PR1 Mathiesen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 alongside David Cheng and Mike Guasch.  

Chris McMurry –left of the car, leaned towards his son-

was watching carefully Matt’s testing. Chris, a real lover of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he has raced several times, and a sportscar veteran, cares about the sporting career of his son. Chris’s Marketing and Communication agency has recently revamped the IMSA website. Chris McMurry has kindly helped us for this article.

For his first LMPC testing, Matt has been very impressive. “Matt came in here and exceeded everyone’s expectations. He was doing things you would expect from the most experienced drivers,” “He was within a tenth of the best time our car has ever run at Palm Beach International Raceway. He did a great job managing other cars on the track, and his speed and consistency were exactly what you want from a driver. To be honest, he’s so young and the times were so good, he had us all nodding our heads and smiling each time he passed the timing beacon,” said Brent O’Neill, Performance Tech Motorsports owner.

Matt’s best laptime was  1.10.975 to  1.10.830 for Raphael Matos.  Over the two days, Matt McMurry ran 142 laps. The second Saturday session was a night session, with a final session with all the circuit’s lights turned off but it not affected Matt’s driving style.

On Friday, Matt McMurry had been testing with the Performance Tech Motorsports Prototype Lites. He improved  the team’s best-ever lap time at PBIR by nearly one second, bettering a 1:12.840 set by current Mazda driver and former Prototype Lites champion Tristen Nunez with a new 1:12.186 mark.

Matt has kindly answered some questions for Endurance-Info :

How did you prepare for this day (driving a Le Mans prototype)?

“In the weeks leading up to the test, my coach, Gerardo Bonilla, had me do a few homework assignments that would help me prepare mentally to drive the LMPC at Palm Beach International Raceway. Those exercises proved to be very useful. In a more general sense, I have been preparing for this day for years, driving everything from karts to junior open wheel cars, and beginning last fall Prototype Lites. I also have been driving GT-style cars, the Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette, at The Bob Bondurant School of Performance Driving with 4-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Johnny O’Connell. I’ve also upped my fitness regimen substantially, and with specific focus on core and upper body strength, and cardio endurance.”

What surprised you about driving an LMPC?

 “I was surprised by a lot of things in the LMPC. I was mostly surprised with how heavy the car was and how much it leaned over in the turns, similar to a GT-style car. I was also surprised at the lack of low speed grip that the car seemed to have. Also, the gas pedal doesn’t accelerate in a linear way. The first 10 or 20 degrees of the pedal don’t really do anything, then the next 30 degrees do, and then another 10 degrees won’t do as much, and then it gets normal from there. But, the weirdest thing of all in the LMPC was that when you are driving at the limit of the car, it feels like you’re only going at about 80%.”

 What was it like when you were in traffic?

 “Dealing with the traffic that I had was easy. I’m used to spec series competition where all the cars are running at the same speed with the same equipment. That makes passing a real challenge! But, when all the traffic is in a slower class of cars, passing is about as easy as it gets. I found it easy to overtake by out-braking or just using horsepower on straights.”

 What was the best piece of advice you got before the test and during the test?

 “I think that the best piece of advice that I got before the test would be one of the one-liners that Johnny O’Connell gives, me such as ‘momentum, momentum, momentum’ or ‘the car does everything best in a straight line.’ During the test, my coach Gerardo gave me lots of little tips about how to go faster in specific corners after looking at data and video. The best general thing would probably be a unique way of braking that another coach at the test, Jonaton Jorge, taught me.”

 How was driving the LMPC different from other cars you’ve driven?

 “It was much different than the Prototype Lite car that I also drove at the test. The Lite is a very agile and has a ton of downforce for its power. The LMPC was much heavier and much less nimble. It was almost similar to a sedan in the way that it lurched around, but less so than an actual sedan.”

 What was it like driving at night on the very first day in the LMPC?

 “The majority of the testing that we did that night wasn’t too different from the day because PBIR is well lit. There was really only one turn that was a little dark, but not too dark that I couldn’t see where I was going. However, for the last session of that night we turned almost all of the lights off (except for the ones in pit lane) and that was much different. The lights on the LMPC car aren’t great because they aren’t that bright and they only point forward. I’m mostly just concerned about lighting the corner that I’m looking into, so the headlights weren’t extremely helpful. But after a few laps I was able to find all of the reference points that I needed in order to stay on line pretty well and run competitive times.”

 How badly do you want to drive a car like this again?

 “I would love to drive the LMPC again! Luckily I get to drive the Prototype Lite again next week at Sebring, in preparation for a full 14-race season with Performance Tech Motorsports in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship. We also have some other items in the works, and hopefully we’ll be able to speak about them shortly, too.”

 Have you been brushing up on your French?

 “I was actually thinking about taking French next year at school. If I end up racing in France this year, I made need a crash course from some of your readers! I’m a quick learner, I promise!”