VIR Provides Ups and Downs for Performance Tech

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Performance Tech Motorsports was provided podiums and woes at VIRginia International Raceway for Rounds 11 and 12 of Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda.

 
Race One and Two were featured back to back with Race One taking place at 9:20 a.m. and Race Two at 3:10 p.m. ET Saturday, August 29. Drivers Robert Alon, Austin Versteeg and Joel Janco all faced difficulties throughout both races but Janco prevailed, bringing home the team’s only podium finish of the weekend.
 
In Round 11 Alon, who started fourth, was unable to finish the race due to an engine failure. Alon brought his No. 00 into the pits before retiring 15-minutes into the 30-minute sprint.
 
Meanwhile Versteeg, starting fifth, fought with his own engine troubles. The No. 16 of Versteeg was losing power as it made its way around the 14-turn 2.25-mile course. Versteeg managed those issues and finished fourth overall.
 
(left to right) Janco, Falb and Watzinger on podium at VIR.

Janco faced issues with his paddle shifters, a clutch-less manual transmission found on the steering wheel. He overcame the issue and brought his No. 25 to the finish line in second place in the Masters Class after starting seventh overall.

 
The Performance Tech team worked through the break to give Alon a new motor and readjust both Versteeg and Janco’s L1 cars.
 
Alon was back with vengeance in Round 12. Starting fourth, Alon made his way into second place early on in the race battling with the drivers of JDC Motorsports. He was pushing the leader Clark Toppe in the No. 10 while fighting off Matt McMurry in the No. 20 and series Champion Kenton Koch in the No. 60, who clenched the 2015 L1 championship in Round 12.
  
 “Happy to finish Race Two,” Alon said. “I had a great start, jumped up to second and was in position to battle for the lead. I didn’t have the pace in the end; I did my best to fight off the JDC guys. For the first 30 minutes I had them but they just pounced on me at the same time and I couldn’t hold them both off.
 
“Happy to finish fourth and make up some points lost after Race One. Performance Tech as usual were freaking working their butts off, so thanks to them.”
 
Alon finished fourth in Race Two. He was followed across the finish line by rookie Austin Versteeg.
 
Versteeg again had issues with the engine of his No. 16 L1. Unable to make a charge for the front Versteeg kept his starting position of fifth place to the finish.
 
Versteeg passes under the checkered flag.

“It was definitely an up and down weekend,” Versteeg said. “Another massive learning experience in my first year in cars. The first race we had some issues with the engine and the front end of the car wasn’t doing what we wanted. We made some big, big adjustments for Race Two. The car was really good but unfortunately the engine issues worsened and there was nothing the team could do, it’s just something that happens in racing.

 
“But it was still really good racing. I was able to manage those issues and alarms in my car. We dropped back pretty far at the start and I worked my way back to fifth with pretty decent pace. I can’t thank the guys enough; they worked so hard, especially for me this weekend. Nobody really knows what goes on behind the scenes and I can’t thank these guys enough.”
 
It was Janco who suffered the worst in Round 12. A small mistake sent Janco off course cutting and collecting grass. Janco continued but was forced to pit due to the potential of overheating the engine with the large amount of grass in the radiator. He retired early from Race Two and finished eighth in the Masters Class.
 
“We’ve had mechanical problems all weekend and today was a little worse than it had been,” Janco said. “It was just a real challenge to drive the car today. I made a mistake and that put me in the grass. I didn’t want to overheat the engine so that was the end of the race for me. We’ll be back for Road Atlanta.”
 
Team Principal Brent O’Neill left Virginia on a positive note. He saw his drivers compete up front, battling for the win and driving through the field for near podium finishes.
 
“It was good racing,” O’Neill said. “It was unfortunate that we had just put a brand new motor in Robert’s car to have it explode and then Austin had a motor problem in his car. Some of these things you can’t control. Joel went off and packed it full of grass, but he had a good run going. It was actually pretty impressive. It was a rough weekend for us. We’ll go home and regroup and get ready for Road Atlanta.”
 
The series finale will feature Rounds 13 and 14 and takes place September 30 through October 3 as part of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Fans can visit imsa.com for a full schedule.   
Keep up with Performance Tech Motorsports by following the team on Facebook and Twitter at @Perf_Tech. For more information on the team, visit performancetechmotorsports.com.
Adam Sinclair
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