Team Seattle-The Heart of Racing is headed to Elkhart Lake, Wis. for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America to run Aug. 8-10.
Ian James (Phoenix, Ariz) and Mario Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) are ready to take on the four-mile, 14-turn Road America circuit this weekend. The duo has had an up and down year. They posted podium runs at Sebring and Detroit and are looking for a strong run to start the last quarter of the TUDOR Championship schedule. Road America will once again be a new track for Farnbacher and teammate James will have to impart some of his long track wisdom on the young German.
“Road America is one of my favorite tracks in the world,” James said. “It is definitely old school, fast, challenging and there is little room for error. It is also the longest track we race on which can make race strategy very interesting. The Porsche typically likes the long straightaways like those at Road America, but it also requires high downforce in the braking areas. With this diverse class you never really know how you are going to stack up, except that the AJR Porsches will be leading the Porsche brigade as usual.”
Road America is another new track for Farnbacher.
“I heard about Road America from my brother Dominik,” Farnbacher said. “The track has a European touch and is also fast and technical. At the last few races we saw clearly that the GT3 cars, like the Audi and Ferrari, have the upper hand over the stints. They are saving much more tire over a fuel distance. The Porsche is fast for just for a few laps and then the tire drops off and we struggle. Those cars just have more aero than we do.”
Alex Job, team owner, will have the team competitive on Sunday.
“Road America will be an interesting race for us,” Job said. “The Porsche has proven speed, but the Audi, Ferrari and BMW have a nice aero package. Strategy will play a key role this weekend as well. Mario will have to learn the track, but he has done a great job working with Ian to get up to speed quickly.