Our Petit Le Mans week at Road Atlanta was full of highs and lows. Tristan Herbert was again behind the wheel of our Audi RS 3 LMS, this time paired with Road Atlanta veteran Cliff Brown. In qualifying, Cliff was the fastest Audi as he secured the team a P4 starting position for the race.
As the race started, Cliff held his position as the TCR field settled into green flag racing. As the caution flag waved early in the race, Cliff followed the leaders to pit road for fuel. Our Audi was working on advancing back through the field as the caution flew for a major accident on the front straight. During the lengthy yellow flag, we approached the edge of our fuel window. Cliff was called to pit road for a driver change, tires, and fuel. With Tristan now in the car, we needed the race to go mostly green to the finish for our strategy to work.
Unfortunately, the yellow flags kept coming, thwarting our fuel strategy. Knowing our strategy was out the window, Tristan shifted into attack mode. Tristan was able to use his race-craft to move through the field and was set for a top-5 finish when he began to experience issues shifting the transmission. As the situation deteriorated in the waning minutes of the race, the team decided to pit the car before experiencing a catastrophic failure on track. The car was retired with less than 6 minutes remaining in the race, leading to a P12 finish.
Our finishing position is not indicative of how well the team performed at Road Atlanta. Our entire team elevated their performance from our last outing and we continue to prove that we belong in the TCR field.
We want to give a massive thank you to our drivers, Tristan Herbert, and Cliff Brown, our crew for stepping up during our pit stops, and our awesome sponsors listed below. Without them, our motorsports program would not exist.
With the 2021 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge now drawn to a close, our focus is on a full-season campaign in 2022.
To view our photo coverage from Petit Le Mans weekend, click here.
See everyone in Daytona!