Driver's Note: NOLA 2022

May 20-22, 2022 | NOLA Motorsports Park | SRO America TCX

Thursday

After a last minute track change to NOLA for Round 2 of the championship, I immediately started running laps on the simulator to try and get prepared. With this being a new facility, there were very few videos to watch online about the track layout. I had to rely on my sim time to get a feel for the track. Thursday's test day was super productive as I started to understand the track and how the car behaved under different conditions. Another thing that we were going to be battling this weekend was the heat. The BMW M2 CS Racing comes with a pretty aggressive cooling package; unfortunately, my body does not, so managing my core temperature this weekend was definitely a priority.

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Friday

Practice on Friday gave my team and I a glimpse of the average pace my competitors were going to have this weekend. Since we had never been to this track before, we were working hard to get the setup dialed in with a focus on minimizing tire wear over the whole 40 minute race session. At the end of the day, we were still trying various setup changes and strategies in hopes of a good race pace throughout the weekend.

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Saturday

Qualifying was very close at the top of the board. I ended up in 3rd place by a very small margin. I had some work to do in the race if I wanted to be on top. I’d ultimately end up making up one position and finishing Race 1 of the weekend in second place after a very clean drive from Colin Garrett. I did however get the fastest lap, which meant I’d be starting from the front for Race 2 on Sunday.

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Sunday

Sunday’s race required a lot of concentration. My car was down on top-end speed compared to the rest of the field, so I really had to bank on my defending skills to stay out in front. A couple of yellow flags ultimately cut the race short, handing me the win early, but it was fun battling with others for the top step.