For the second year back to back, the American Le Mans Series Monterey at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway on the Monterey Peninsula was a six-hour enduro race that guided drivers around the circuit into the post-sundown darkness.
Until now, the race was 4 hours, with two extra hrs in 2010. For Scott Tucker along with his Level 5 Motorsports racing team, the 2 extra hours allow for some space. "We always try to run a clean race, but little mistakes can add up," Tucker claimed last year. "Two extra hours can be a huge advantage even for experienced teams because of those unexpected things you tend to run into with endurance races."
Assuming Tucker and teammates Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz needed a 120-minute time allowance to overcome flaws could have been a lot easier in 2010, as it was Level 5 Motorsports' debut year in the Le Mans series. Nonetheless, the David Stone-managed, Microsoft Office-sponsored team took the LMP class championship, and Tucker was rookie of the year.
During the 2011 season, driver faults have already been few in number for the Wisconsin-based team. Exploding on the season with plenty podium finishes, the Level 5 drivers seemingly experienced only circumstantial problems. After making podium at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Long Beach circuit and Imola in Italy, and achieving top LMP2 points and a fourth-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, they had a record of majority clean races, with nary a mark or a ding on their Nos. 55 and 95 entries.
Having said that, the team has faced those little mistakes that normally tally up. At the first appearance of the season, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the team-on track for the podium for the better part of the race-finished 8th after Tucker's No. 95 got caught in a stack-up in the infamously narrow track. Even with smooth subsequent performances by Bouchut and Diaz, who had just joined the group at the start of the year, Level 5 couldn't make up for the error. In a 24-hour race, more time isn't an option, however the outcome of the Rolex 24 could have been unique had each driver just had a little more seat time.
"One of the benefits of a six-hour endurance race is the extra seat time in a racing environment," Tucker says at the Monterey. "It maximizes the efficiency of the track time allowed for a driver."
The team couldn't fix the flaws with time in making podium at Daytona, they made quick work of perfecting their form and began their successful streak after the let-down at Daytona.
But in the Spa-Francorchamps race, a suspension failure sent Bouchut into the sideboards, and the team's hopes of continuing its incredible streak with another ILMC top finish were dashed.
"It's one of those things in racing," Tucker reported. "It's pretty unfortunate-it's a pretty rough spot on the track for that failure to happen." The statement is similar to what Tucker had said the previous year about little unexpected things that pop up in endurance races. A second surprising development came in the summer for the Level 5 team, when a Honda Performance Development/Wirth Research partnership was producing a cost-capped LMP2 prototype. Tucker reserved the first two out of production, and the Level 5 team commenced waiting for the cars to be ready, ultimately pulling out of Lime Rock and Silverstone, partially because they didn't face much competition and partially because they were preparing the new car for its ALMS debut.
As an aside, the new car's first ride was at the 2nd six-hour Monterey at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. They pulled off an incredible 1st performance in the HPD ARX-01g. Each of the drivers has undoubtedly improved since the 1st six-hour format in 2010, and certainly the newer, faster car was also a significant factor in the podium finish, but one has to wonder how it would have fared in a four-hour enduro. World-class motorsports competition is a field of strategy, with vehicle, driver order and track time very important factors to consider.
Until now, the race was 4 hours, with two extra hrs in 2010. For Scott Tucker along with his Level 5 Motorsports racing team, the 2 extra hours allow for some space. "We always try to run a clean race, but little mistakes can add up," Tucker claimed last year. "Two extra hours can be a huge advantage even for experienced teams because of those unexpected things you tend to run into with endurance races."
Assuming Tucker and teammates Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz needed a 120-minute time allowance to overcome flaws could have been a lot easier in 2010, as it was Level 5 Motorsports' debut year in the Le Mans series. Nonetheless, the David Stone-managed, Microsoft Office-sponsored team took the LMP class championship, and Tucker was rookie of the year.
During the 2011 season, driver faults have already been few in number for the Wisconsin-based team. Exploding on the season with plenty podium finishes, the Level 5 drivers seemingly experienced only circumstantial problems. After making podium at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Long Beach circuit and Imola in Italy, and achieving top LMP2 points and a fourth-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, they had a record of majority clean races, with nary a mark or a ding on their Nos. 55 and 95 entries.
Having said that, the team has faced those little mistakes that normally tally up. At the first appearance of the season, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the team-on track for the podium for the better part of the race-finished 8th after Tucker's No. 95 got caught in a stack-up in the infamously narrow track. Even with smooth subsequent performances by Bouchut and Diaz, who had just joined the group at the start of the year, Level 5 couldn't make up for the error. In a 24-hour race, more time isn't an option, however the outcome of the Rolex 24 could have been unique had each driver just had a little more seat time.
"One of the benefits of a six-hour endurance race is the extra seat time in a racing environment," Tucker says at the Monterey. "It maximizes the efficiency of the track time allowed for a driver."
The team couldn't fix the flaws with time in making podium at Daytona, they made quick work of perfecting their form and began their successful streak after the let-down at Daytona.
But in the Spa-Francorchamps race, a suspension failure sent Bouchut into the sideboards, and the team's hopes of continuing its incredible streak with another ILMC top finish were dashed.
"It's one of those things in racing," Tucker reported. "It's pretty unfortunate-it's a pretty rough spot on the track for that failure to happen." The statement is similar to what Tucker had said the previous year about little unexpected things that pop up in endurance races. A second surprising development came in the summer for the Level 5 team, when a Honda Performance Development/Wirth Research partnership was producing a cost-capped LMP2 prototype. Tucker reserved the first two out of production, and the Level 5 team commenced waiting for the cars to be ready, ultimately pulling out of Lime Rock and Silverstone, partially because they didn't face much competition and partially because they were preparing the new car for its ALMS debut.
As an aside, the new car's first ride was at the 2nd six-hour Monterey at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. They pulled off an incredible 1st performance in the HPD ARX-01g. Each of the drivers has undoubtedly improved since the 1st six-hour format in 2010, and certainly the newer, faster car was also a significant factor in the podium finish, but one has to wonder how it would have fared in a four-hour enduro. World-class motorsports competition is a field of strategy, with vehicle, driver order and track time very important factors to consider.
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