Heading to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta tied for both the team and driver championships, the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 squad is hoping to move into the sole lead following the six hour race on Saturday as the team looks to follow up its run to the 2019 IMSA championship with another title in 2020.
The additional race weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will serve as a replacement for the recently cancelled Sahlen’s Six Hour at Watkins Glen which was originally slated to take place in July. The six hour event at Road Atlanta will be the second race of the Michelin Endurance Cup and will see the return of Shinya Michimi with full season co-drivers Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry.
Farnbacher and McMurry are coming off of a big weekend at Virginia International Raceway which saw Farnbacher make an impressive charge to second place, which positioned MSR to be tied for the GTD team and driver championship lead.
The last outing at Road Atlanta for Farnbacher was a memorable one and saw he and 2019 MSR teammate, Trent Hindman clinch the driver and team IMSA championship. The six hour race will be Farnbacher’s seventh outing at the 2.54-mile track.
“Road Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks and was actually the place where I won my first race in 2012,” said Farnbacher. “We also secured the championship there last year. I’m still waiting on a win with the NSX there, so hopefully we can make that happen this year. We’re going into the weekend looking to claim more championship points. It will also be nice to have Shinya (Michimi) back on board with us again.”
The TireRack.com Grand Prix also marks a big moment in McMurry’s career and will be his 150th sports car start. The venue has treated McMurry well over the years with five podiums since 2013 including a third place GTD podium in 2017. McMurry is also the reigning IMSA Prototype Challenge race winner at Road Atlanta on the way to securing the 2019 IMSA Prototype Challenge championship.
“Road Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks, I call it my ‘home’ track because it’s the first place I raced and I have so much experience there, including a couple podiums in GTD,” said McMurry. “Mike Shank even joked that I could drive it blindfolded! All that being said I’m of course very excited to be racing there next week. We’re all itching for a win still and I think this will be a great opportunity to make it happen.”
Returning to the MSR No. 86 squad is Michimi, who’s last outing with the team was at the Rolex 24 in January. Michimi’s made his IMSA GTD debut at Road Atlanta last year for the Petit Le Mans and qualified third as well as setting the GTD race lap record.
“I’m really looking forward to finally getting back in the Acura NSX GT3 again,” said Michimi. “I felt like I was really getting back up to speed during our test after Daytona. Road Atlanta is one of my top three favorite tracks and last year I made my IMSA debut there. I managed to qualify third and hold the race lap record. I’m hoping to build on the momentum from last year here and help Mario, Matt and everyone at Meyer Shank Racing extent the points lead.
Source. Sunday Group
Comments
