Happy New Year everyone, and with the new year comes the start of a new season! This season will see the PITS league running one of, if not, the most popular GT3 car in the game of Project Cars. That GT3 car is the McLaren MP4-12C. Along with a new car we have seen an influx of new drivers into PITS, and let me make and official welcome to the league via our community news letter. Now I am going to go on a tangent here momentarily, and explain to the new comers that every couple of races or so there are news letters published to this thread. They provide an update and recap of individual races and overall season results, but what makes them really special is driver spotlights. A driver spotlight is essentially a mock interview. There is no exact criteria of how to become the one spotlighted other then me sending you a classified message requesting it.
Anyway, moving on, the first race of the new season took place at Mazda Raceway Laguna SECA. Laguna SECA is located in Monterey, CA, and was opened in 1957. The track cost approx. $1.5 million USD to construct. It is 2.24 miles in length with 11 turns, the most famous of which is the "Corkscrew". The current lap record is held by Marc Gene, Scuderia Ferrari, driving a Ferrari F2003-GA. The lap time is 1:05.786 which was set in 2012.
Qualifying saw
@HazardLvL4 taking pole running in the 1:22's, and the top three was rounded out by
@Harley Owen and
@JoeW. Within a few laps into the start of race one, the pole sitter was off in the dirt, which allowed for the eventual race winner,
@JoeW, to take the lead and the eventual victory. In race two, starting with a reverse grid, drivers struggled with working their way through the pack on a narrow circuit like Laguna. However, once the dust settled
@JoeW would be crowned victorious once again, sweeping the evenings events. Two key learning points came out of Laguna, one being the car's pace and stability were very dependent on setup, and secondly the tire wear was going to make for some interesting pit strategies going into the season. This week this reporter was able to catch up with our current championship leader and race winner,
@JoeW, and here is what he had to say.
DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: @JoeW
1. Going into the first round of the new season, what was your mindset and strategy for this race? How did tire wear play into your pit strategy?
Well to be honest my mindset for every race is just hoping I don’t crash. Back in my GT days that was what I was known for. I could be driving up front almost every race and blow it eventually. Some nights I would get so pissed off at myself. Maybe I practiced a little extra or knew I could run with the big dogs on a particular track and then blow it in the races. For this series I have learned how vitally important it is NOT to crash mostly due to the “Full Damage” setting being on. Crashing and losing a few seconds is one thing, but having to pit for damage repair…your race is over. And wasting 45 minutes of my time because I couldn’t hold it together is no fun.
I have learned from some of the masters here that using a two (or more) stop pit strategy in any race is basically a death sentence. So in my practices I will run a mock half-race to about 22-24 minutes on a certain tire and see how close I am to making it. If I can only hit 16-17 mins or less then I know I need to grab a harder compound. Some people can decide to run a more conservative pace to save tires but I just don’t have the self-control at the beginning of races for that. And I have to plan on a couple of spins per race which really wear your tires down quickly (especially if you spin because your tires are already worn). Since the car holds so much fuel I decided to just fill it with enough to go the distance and not take on any during the pit stop to save time.
2. The car for this season is the McLaren MP4-12C GT3. What are your thoughts on the car? How does it fit your driving style?
The car is really great. I voted for the Audi without having driven the McLaren but I am certainly glad the McLaren won the vote 
For me it is ridiculously stable and handles like a dream. Practicing for Road America in the rain it even slides predictably when you make a mistake so that tells you something.
Well judging by the Laguna results apparently it fits my style perfectly. When @Cardahs was racing, we used to send PMs back and forth near the beginning of each race week, kind of stating what our practice times were. So I knew if I was within a couple seconds then I was probably going to be OK. But since he has been off I haven’t been getting much feedback from people about what times to expect. So I really went in blind. But apparently my times were somewhat competitive at Laguna.
3. The new car seemed to have posed issues for some drivers over the course of the race. What were the key aspects of the car that you focused on during your tuning sessions to make it fast, yet stable for the race?
I will say that Laguna has several corners where I like to roll off the throttle beforehand instead of hitting the brakes. Essentially carrying a little more speed and coasting through. But the car tended to want to understeer off throttle as well as on throttle pulling out of corners. Being a complete nitwit when it comes to the myriad of suspension settings PCars has to offer (hence my preference for spec racing), I decided to focus on the Diff settings (which I played with a lot last season in the Focus). I tried to get as much car rotation as possible by backing off the diff settings without creating a big oversteer issue coming out of corners. So I lowered the diff settings a little and lowered tire pressure and sway bars a little and the thing handled great.
4. Mazda Raceway Laguna SECA is a polarizing track. Some drivers like it and others hate it. What are you thoughts on Laguna? Any sectors that gave you trouble? Any sectors that you enjoyed nailing in particular?
Well due to my GT days I can’t count how many laps I have run here. On some cars it is an absolute nightmare but in the McLaren it really was a dream. If your car isn’t right then this track will turn it into your worst nightmare. So many unconventional corners that you have to nail the entry speed and apex in order not to run off the damn track every time. It can be very frustrating. I have had my share of crappy races there for sure. But the McLaren really made it fun. I am certain it would have been less fun in the Audi.
The worst sectors are also the most rewarding to nail The right turns at 2 and 3 have to be hit just right or you’re off into the sand. You’re lucky if you really blow it bad because your car is completely in the sand and you just slow down and drive back on. If you only blow it a little and get one rear wheel off in the sand then you get the benefit of a full on spin out into the wall. Braking late into 4 and doing a late apex is your best bet for a good exit. After that the left/right combo after the corkscrew is super important not to overcook as well.
I liked the car/track combo…I just needed to know when to ease off because this track kills you for over driving.
5. Please provide a summary of how your drive went in Race 1?
After qualifying 3rd I had a feeling I was just going to be mid pack. Which I am generally happy with. Upper mid pack. You have your super-fast guys in D1 and D2 than the rest of us When I was still top three after lap 1 I was somewhat surprised so I just tried to stay close. Going into lap 2 @HazardLvL4 fell off and I got around @Harley Owen. So all of a sudden I’m in 1st. I just try to focus and stay consistent. I was watching my gap to 2nd and it was slowing growing which I couldn’t believe. I figured there was a battle behind me and they were slowing each other down. As the race went on I assumed I had a ****** pit strategy or something major was wrong. Medium tires got a little greasy about 18 minutes in due to over driving in the beginning of the race and I spun it in front of @aerolite at turn 1. I had to back it down and hold on until the first pit stop. I am NEVER in 1st after mid race. But the lead got a little bigger and I managed to finished out front. I figured I got lucky and was just hoping to stay on track for Race 2 and possibly come out with the points lead.
6. Please provide a summary of hour your drive went in Race 2?
Your mindset starting in last place of Race 2 basically has to be to RELAX. I tell myself to just let whatever happens happen…take it easy and only try to pass when the opportunity is there. I followed @Zii1993 around and just tried to stay with him. The pack was getting bunched up a lot in the corners early on so along with the formation lap and couple of slower paced early laps my tires were in fantastic shape. So I started to take advantage of some battles taking them off track and picked up some places here and there. I think about 5-7 laps in I was resigned to just run my pace and try for a top 3 and take the points win for the night. @SGETI and @Mike Lobban were ahead of me so I was cool with it. Then I pass @Mike Lobban as he goes off track. Now @SGETI is a good 12-15 secs ahead but somehow I am gaining on him. So I start pushing my tires because I had plenty of tire left about 15 mins in. I somehow catch @SGETI right before I pit. I come out ahead and just keep on plugging away. I honestly have no idea how I won both races. Usually the typical rabbits run away and leave us turtles behind. But somehow I found the magical setup and managed to only spin twice with no damage to the car.
7. Your thoughts / concerns on this past season, and moving forward into this season?
Well last season was one big controversy which I was a large part of starting apparently…I blame @Mike Lobban for getting me riled up But in the end (when tire wear was turned off) it calmed down somewhat. So hard to plan for two completely different cars racing together.
This upcoming season looks to be fun. I have never raced at Road America (in the rain no less) so that should be fun. My car feels pretty stable on the wets in the one practice session I did Sunday night as long as I can avoid excessive wheel-spin on the exits. I expect to resume my role as the mid pack specialist again…no delusions of grandeur here Just stay on the road and try not to ruin anyone’s race.
8. Anything you have to add?
Thanks for having me. I assumed, due to my somewhat volatile history on the forum, that I would be banned from the fabled “Driver Spotlight” interview. But maybe it was a reverse ploy to throw me a bone so I will shut the hell up, stop whining, and enjoy it for a change. Well touche’ my friend…touche’. Well played! It may have worked!
And in the immortal words of “The” @HazardLvL4 …
Get good bro.
good stuff guys. đź‘Ť
