Team Seattle-The Heart of Racing finished sixth in GTD in today’s running of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Mobil 1 Sportscar Championship race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

Mario Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) started the No. 23 Team Seattle-Heart of Racing Porsche and took off after the racers in front of him. On lap 53, in the middle of his double stint, he took over the GTD class lead. He and teammate Ian James (Phoenix, Ariz.) made the decision with the team to start the car with a wet set-up hoping the morning rain would return. It didn’t. James took over the blue 23 on lap 82 and was able to bring the car home in sixth place.

“Unfortunately we took a gamble with a wet set-up on the car,” James said. “The rain never came. With the rain set-up on the car it is not optimal. In this tough field you have to have everything right to run up at the front. We were still able to finish sixth. In this tough GTD field that is not a bad day.”
 
Farnbacher lead some laps on the day.

“I was able to lead some laps today,” Farnbacher said. “I did a double stint. We expected rain and had the car set-up for the weather, but that was not the right call. Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don’t. The set-up was hard on the tires. We were in a position of defending our positons and not being able to attack. That is tough in this competitive field.”
 
Alex Job, team owner, had the team gambling.

“We made a collective decision to put the wet set-up on the car,” Job said. “A bold move that didn’t pay off. Still, Mario and Ian did a great job to keep the car upfront without the ultimate set-up underneath. Mario also managed to lead a handful of laps today. It was a good solid finish after our tough run at The Glen.”