SAMAX - Watkins Glen race

The No. 17 SAMAX/ Doncaster Racing Porsche survived a cold, wet Rolex Sports Car Series race at Watkins Glen International on June 3 to finish 10th in the GT class. Mother Nature and racing luck both played roles in the team's result.

Greg Wilkins drove the first stint of the six-hour race, moving from fourth to third in class at the green flag. He settled back to fifth before handing off to Dave Lacey just before the end of the first hour. The team lost a lap during a subsequent caution period because of the car's position relative to the safety car, but Lacey held sixth in GT. Mark Wilkins took the wheel after 2.5 hours, racing on rain tires. He encountered problems as the track dried and the tires blistered, forcing an early pitstop to switch to dry tires and dropping him to 10th. Lacey drove the final 55 minutes of the race, maintaining a strong pace to finish 10th.

race report

time driver action
start G Wilkins
56m Lacey in pit – driver change, rain tires, fuel
1h36 Lacey lost lap during caution
1h39 Lacey pit – fuel
2h02 Lacey drive-through penalty for contact
2h33 M Wilkins in pit – driver change, rain tires, fuel
3h31 M Wilkins pit – right rear rain tire , fuel
4h01 M Wilkins pit – dry tires, fuel
5h05 Lacey in pit – driver change, dry tires, fuel

Dave Lacey: "We probably had a better wet-weather car today than we had a dry-weather car. It was one of those days where it was just in-between, it was a crapshoot. My first stint was great! I like driving in the wet with the slicks on; I think Canadians are particularly good at that. We were top three in terms of times. I think the best we would have had was maybe sixth, but we're back in 10th. That's fine, after six hours, the car's in one piece ... but I just wish it had rained more."

Mark Wilkins: "That was one of the most eventful races I've ever had. We had a tire blister issue – I'm learning, so I didn't know right off the shot what the issue was. It felt like there was rear-wheel steering because there was so much side-to-side movement. It was a big learning experience for me this weekend, so it was nice they gave me all that time in the car to figure it out, and we got going pretty quick at the end. But it was a good race overall. It's always successful when you bring it home in one piece."