Closing out the team’s second race on the day in Detroit, Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) finished sixth in the IMSA Sports Car Classic on the streets of Belle Isle on Saturday with drivers Olivier Pla and Dane Cameron on board the No. 60 Acura DPi.
Pla opened the race from the third row, and filed into line at the start after getting bottled up behind another prototype. With the lead pack keeping in close contact, Pla continued to look for a way to convert the GT traffic into passing opportunities before turning the car over to Cameron just ahead of the one hour mark of the 100-minute race.
As the pit strategies played out, Cameron continued in sixth position in close competition as four Prototyped fought for the final podium position. Cameron clicked off quick lap times and clocked in his personal best on lap 54. Following a lap 65 restart which left just three-minutes on the clock, Cameron crossed the line in sixth.
“It was not an easy race,” said Pla, who last raced at the track in 2014. “We just have to put our heads down and keep working – I know that the guys have worked so hard this weekend. We need to understand a bit more what is going on so we can keep improving the car, but I know we will get there. With the (IndyCar) rubber that was down after their race, the car was quite good in the first part of my stint but then I started to lose grip and pace by the end, so it was difficult.”
Cameron has similar feedback following his stint, but managed the No. 60 Acura as best this could to bring it home to the finish.
“The car wasn’t as predicable as it had been earlier in the weekend before the IndyCar race, so it was a bit of a challenge to push forward today,” said Cameron. “We made a very solid step for the warm up this morning and I was hoping that we’d be able to convert that into more in the race, but it didn’t play out like that so we we’ll focus on the Six Hour coming up in a few weeks. We had a good test at The Glen and I think we should be able to start the weekend on the right foot at the end of the month.”
Meyer Shank Racing will return to IMSA action with back-to-back race weekends at Watkins Glen International. The first weekend (June 24-27) will feature the annual Sahlen’s Six Hour and the following weekend (July 1-2) will see a two-hour sprint race at The Glen.
Source. Sunday Group
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