Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Gunnar Jeannette (Salt Lake City, Ut.) will start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix featuring America’s Tire 250 from ninth in GTD tomorrow.
The 2.2-mile, 11-turn WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is proving to be a challenge to drivers and crew. The heat of the track combined with slippery conditions have the IMSA teams struggling to get their cars handling. MacNeil had the wheel of No. 63 WeatherTech Racing Ferrari and posted a lap of 1:25.404 that will have him starting from the fifth row in GTD for tomorrow’s 5 p.m. ET start.
“We have been working hard on the set-up on the WeatherTech Racing Ferrari all weekend as we are struggling for grip,” MacNeil said. “The front and rear of the car is pretty unsettled, so we have been throwing everything at the black and white Ferrari to get it to turn. The Scuderia Corsa guys are working hard to get us pointing in the right direction. A top ten qualifying effort against a bunch of pros is not a bad day at the race track. Not a great day, but we have a three-hour race tomorrow to make up some positions.”
“It has been an interesting weekend,” Jeannette said. “I don’t remember struggling for grip this much here over the past few years. It seems like when we put new tires on the WeatherTech Ferrari we have one really good lap, another seven or eight that are OK and then you are hanging on for dear life. We have been trying different things and we will have the best race car that we can and hope it is faster through a stint than the competition.”
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix featuring America’s Tire 250 will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 (FS1) starting at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
