IVRA Double header at Barber
Both IVRA leagues that we compete in, Clubsport and Endurance, went to Barber this weekend for one race each of just under three hours. Having two cars in Clubsport and three in the Endurance league meant that most drivers in the team had to participate to fill the seats. Fortunately, almost all could focus on only one of the races with Rickard being the exception who had to fill one seat in our Porsche Cup on Saturday and then drive the GTE car on Sunday.
Barber is not an obvious multiclass track but the IVRA leagues tend to go to that kind of track from time to time to introduce some extra spice into the racing. Most of the time, knowing that the track is not well-suited for multiclass racing typically sharpens most drivers and the effect is sometimes that the race becomes a very clean one just because everyone tries their hardest and does not push it too far. This weekend, the resulting races might have been closer to what you would expect if you put over 50 really fast cars on a tight and twisty track like Barber, but it’s still a fun break from all the Spa races you typically see in multiclass racing.
In the Clubsport race, our two 911 Cup cars managed a respectable 6th and 8th place after a well managed race where the tactics played out to their advantage. In the Endurance race, the vast amount of safety cars meant that the outcome was dependent not only on cunning tactics but quite a bit of luck. However, no luck was needed for our #29 LMP2 who drove a pretty much flawless race and deserved their P3 finish. The #19 LMP2 was involved in a first-lap incident and had less luck with the timing of the safety cars, leading to a P9 finish. Our GTE car had a podium in sight for a long time, but a late safety car meant that the, until then, promising tactics fell through and when that was followed up by a self-induced spin due to older tires, the P9 finish was a fact.
Next, after a Christmas break the Clubsport league goes to Spa (yeah, there it is again..) while the Endurance league tackles yet another track which you don’t often see in an endurance calendar - Mid-Ohio. We expect an even tighter and more intense race that time around.