Meyer Shank Racing’s (MSR) quest for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi title continued into the Road America race weekend for Sunday’s IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend.
The MSR squad persevered through early race pace troubles during the two-hour, 40-minute race which saw the No. 60 MSR Acura DPi fall down the order after starting third. Managing the changing conditions, Blomqvist did everything he could in his first stint, when the team decided to make a rear wing and ride height adjustment on the first stop during a full course caution.
The pit lane adjustments improved the pace of the Acura, as Oliver Jarvis got behind the wheel to close out the final two stints of the race. Running fourth, the MSR crew called Jarvis into pit lane along with the top three running Prototypes in the final stage of the race. A strategic call to short fill and take two tires edged out the rest of the Prototype field, bringing Jarvis back out on track in the lead with 36 minutes remaining ahead of the final restart.
Working through GT class traffic on the four-mile circuit, Jarvis fell to second, but was holding a steady pace with just seven minutes left on the clock. Coming into the kink, Jarvis ran wide and shot across the track and tagged the wall. Despite the significant damage, Jarvis managed to keep the Acura running as the team made the strategic call to keep the Brit out on track as track clean up began.
With the clock continuing to tick down, the race eventually ended under yellow with Jarvis crossing the line fourth.
MSR now enters the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Oct. 1 trailing the No. 10 Acura by 19 points. Blomqvist and Jarvis will be joined by MSR endurance driver, Helio Castroneves for the season finale as MSR looks to get its third IMSA championship title.
Driver Quotes:
Oliver Jarvis:
“It’s really unfortunate to lose the podium like that today. We were on a bit of a fuel save and the car was pretty difficult in that final stint. We were working through traffic and I think I just got into the marbles and went off there in the kink. Fortunately, the car was strong enough to make it to the finish, but it’s just a shame after the team put us in a very good position late in the race.”
Tom Blomqvist:
“The team did a good job to get us back to the front with that last stop. Olly was driving really well and he had a hard assignment to save fuel, but keep out front. But traffic can be quite difficult around here so it didn’t end up how we were hoping. It is a shame to lose the (championship) lead, but we know we just have to, execute at Road Atlanta to be able to come out on top.”
Source. Sunday Group
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