IMAS GTC S1 R2: New York 500 Miles

From last to first, and in dominating fashion too. A huge confidence boost, I'd say?

Jake: You bet! Stoked to be able to convert the team's efforts into a good result, especially a win! We're having lots of fun here, but that doesn't mean we don't take the competition seriously.

You two seemed to cut through the AM class cars like they weren't even there. Is this a strength you'll be looking to capitalize in the upcoming rounds?

Jake: Absolutely. We're still getting the gist of things, but it's pretty similar to Lightning Car and its packed grids. Sometimes we gotta use our heads more than our muscles, and we're happy that everything worked out for us today, but we shouldn't become complacent.

Emile (Vernier), you made that final stint look easy. What was the greatest difficulty you faced out there, even with nearly half a lap lead on some of your rivals?

Emile: It was far from easy, actually. We don't just fight against our rivals, we fight against ourselves every lap, knowing that any mistake can cost us the race and all the effort we put in during the weekend. Glad to be able to finish the race on a high note, though! Can't wait for the next one!
RebelMist

Two for two on P2s, and the championship lead. How does it feel, leading the standings before the biggest race of the season?

Ryoko: Ahhhh, I’m feeling so unstoppable right now! We might not be winning yet but we’re sure knocking on the door for it! We gotta keep going, gotta keep fighting and at this rate it’s going to come soon!

Risa: It feels great, of course! It’s a little disappointing to be so close yet again but like Ryoko said, yeah, if we keep this up we’ll for sure get a win at some point in the season. I’m just surprised we’re keeping up with the rest of the pack being so new to the series. Everyone here is tough to race against, I have to keep on my toes every week.

Nina: I’m happy with the results so far but it’s too early to start celebrating. It’s true that this is the highest we’ve been in years but there’s no use in resting on our laurels just yet! We’ll keep pushing and make sure to keep bringing the pressure towards the other teams every race weekend. I’m sure the fans love to see a Porsche finally bring the fight towards the other brands again.

You really struggled with traffic in the second phase of the race; do you feel teams like REDLINE Engineering have an advantage over you in that regard?

Risa: Yeah, it’s definitely not time attack. Traffic was really tough to pick through at the latter half. I can’t say it’s down to REDLINE and more down to my experience. I’ll keep that in mind for Daytona and be a lot better in that aspect.

Ryoko: Well, sometimes I think many lower class drivers really dunno what they’re doing! It’s tough out there!

Nina: REDLINE has a lot of experience outside of sports car racing. Even with the new surroundings they hold the knowledge that we don’t in a lot of aspects. It’s reassuring we seem to be able to stick it to them at times though, we’re a plucky group of lasses.

I'd hate to wish for any team to go winless, but what might your reaction be if you somehow won the championship without winning any races? We've never had this happen before in IMAS GT history…

Nina: In football a draw is better than a loss. Losing valuable points no matter the amount can make or break a season and we have to manage that. It’s similar here. If we were to go winless it definitely wouldn’t bother me if we get to lift the silverware in Sebring. We just have to mind our own results and not worry about what the others are doing. Of course we are aiming for wins, but consistency is also key. In IMAS a bad result is costly, we can’t afford to have even a single one.
maikoheart

A podium finish is usually what you'd call "less than satisfactory" to say the least, but given the circumstances, does it make up for losing out on a podium placing at Long Beach?

Renee Scarlet, Team Principal: Not even close. The Scarlet name represents the apex of performance, quality, and dominance. A third place result would send other teams over the moon, but not us. We won't be satisfied until we've proven we can thoroughly dominate this championship. Our crew has the privilege to be happy, of course; but to call us satisfied and say it repays the debt in our minds is an overstatement.

Patricia Wisdome, you nearly sent Radcliffe's Ford GT into the fence today. What was that turn one dive all about?

Patricia: Simple. I wanted to send a message to her. Nobody pins me to a barrier, puts a cutesy cat girl message behind their response without any remorse whatsoever and gets away with it.

Sebastien (Labelle), what was your version of the events? Do you think Patricia pushed too far?

Sebastien: While it is not problematic for drivers to pursue rivalries, Raiden Motorsports should not be a team that registers a blip on our radar even with their current tie in the standings with us. Patricia's vendetta with a rookie team reflects badly on us as a whole, and I would rather beat them on track through guile and wit.

Two for two on win ratio so far this year! You know, if you won Daytona after this, you'd be setting series history, right!?

Evan: "Making series history sure does sound nice, doesn't it? The team's domestic debut has been going about as well as it can for the #9 crew, and I don't think there's any clear indication that they'll lose that momentum anytime soon. Some developments within our competitor's outfits, namely the appearance of hybrid systems in AM have given the team a lot think about moving forward car development-wise, but our driver pairing and strategy has been 100% on point so far. Daytona's gonna be a whole different nut to crack though, being the longest race the team has ever entered since we made a pretty forgettable one-off appearance in the Starlight 1000 KM back in our first year. I've already got my shortlist for our third drivers for that event, so if we can keep nailing the strategy, the car can hold together, and we can avoid that "Purple Curse" Tripwire likes to constantly remind us about, then I'd say you wouldn't be stupid to bet on us for the threepeat. And hopefully Jason won't spin the car on the first lap this time."

Didier (Wieth), you've got a masterful ability to handle pressure from opposition. We knew it wouldn't be an easy win, but how confident were you in the Mustang's ability to maintain pace?

"Evan, despite how he seems whenever he's around the media, is pretty handy when it comes getting the components together for a strong effort. The car struck a good balance of speed and endurance today, and I would argue that our strategy was the strongest out there today. However, I can't ignore Acerola's effort in keeping us honest all race, their new hybrid system in that Viper gave them a pretty handy advantage in how much fuel they took over the course of the race, if it had come down to a pure duel between us on track, I'm not too sure who would've came out on top in the end. But as it sits, Jason and I have a perfect win ratio in IMAS, so we'll focus on keeping our results strong and not getting complacent on top of the standings."

It wasn't as if you had it very easy out there either, Jason (Oakley)! What did you fear was going to go wrong during the race?

"If it ain't hard, it ain't fun, if you know what I mean. Tanner and Thorsten are magic with our strategies and with Didier and me behind the wheel, it takes a lot to give us a challenge. Acerola in that Viper pressed us pretty hard, I'm thinking that hybrid system was the biggest part of that though, so maybe next time you see us, Ford may try and stick some PowerBoost™ branding on our car. If that happens, you bet that the #9 Mustang is gonna be galloping away for that three-piece."
jeracerx

P2 in class is a great result, takes us back to one of the rare feel good moments of the 1999 season! How about you?

The personell may have changed, but the celebrations truly are reminiscent of those times. There were bitter moments to go with the sweet back then, and this current iteration of the team will surely face setbacks as well, but when you look back 20 years later it's the days like today that live on in your memory.

That hybrid-powered Viper looked a mighty handful! What was the idea behind that!?

Some may call it blasphemy, but for me this is simply a natural step in the Viper's evolution. The hybrid system allows us to produce a slightly increased power output while improving fuel economy, augmenting the car's strengths while improving upon it's weaknesses. This in turn offers us increased strategy options, without compromising on the characteristics that make the Viper such a successful machine.

You know, typically hybrid conversion upgrades are used to draw out stints for a long while; what made your team decide the extra stop and going all-out was worth it?

Our priority this season is to gain experience rather than mount a title challenge, which allows us the opportunity to to go aggressive with our strategy in order to score a big result. Both in pace and tire wear we were slightly behind the frontrunners at Long Beach, so we decided to make an extra stop and use our hybrid system to allow us to short fill on our pitstops and make pace in clean air. The strategy relied on the drivers being able to make the most of the tire advantage, and Janet and Septimus each drove beautifully to bring home our first podium finish. A lot of credit for this result has gone towards our engineering team, and rightfully so, but our drivers also deserve praise for their roles in today's triumph.
aarror

A great finish for the good ol' snake crew!

Rian Burton: Aye, we kept the frontrunners honest all day long. Experience is the name of the game in a propah endurance championship like this, and we had to cut down a buncha the youngah talent who proved quick but fell off just as quickly early on. All those years of racin' stock and tourin' cahs really paid off, yanno.

Remi (Pouhon), you're one of the few "iron racers" out there in GTE AM attempting to run in both the GT Masters and the IMAS GT Championship. How does this impact your ability to compete?

Remi: Oui, it's a busy schedule for sure! Traveling between the Asia-Pacific region and The Americas is a lot of stress for me! But when I join up with my crew in the paddock, I feel right at home with my friends both here at ViperConcepts and at Explorer Core. It's a major learning experience but with more good results like this, I'll be a respected veteran of the scene soon. That, and I get to sample lots of great local sweets and treats!!

So, Rian, what's your opinion of the J-Racing Adventures crew?

Rian: When I first heard of this team, I thought to myself, "Bloody hell, we got these third-tier punters here instead of MSAA GT? This an early April Fools' joke". The fact that they drive Mustangs set off buzzin' bloody red alarms too, you know how the cah culture joke goes about Ford teams and drivers... but clearly, they're the real deal, and they've got purple paint jobs like we do. So it shat on my pride a bit, getting shown up by these guys not once but twice, yanno? They and the Acerola crew are teams we've got our crosshairs on now, for sure.