Race 2 Quotes from the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
ArmsUp Motorsports, USF2000
Keyvan Andres Soori // #5 ArmsUp Motorsports
Started P11 // Finished P7
I had a tough start to the race and did a 360 spin on the front straight. Then I had to recover, and I got one or two spots before the full course caution came out. I grabbed two more spots once we went back to green. The conditions were pretty bad, but overall, it was a good finish.
Max Hanratty // #6 ArmsUp Motorsports
Started P14 // Finished P13
I was pushing a little too hard on the pace laps and I spun the car. I saved it, but had to start from the back. I don’t have a lot of experience in the rain, so I was learning all I could to keep the car in one piece and bring it home. I ended up picking up the pace at the end of the race, but I was still far from where I need to be to be competitive. I learned a lot on track and had a godo car to work with. I want to thank Juniper Networks, SynerComm, Steve Welk, Cooper Tire and Mazda for all their help. I’m looking forward to Barber.
James Dayson // #16 ArmsUp Motorsports
Started P16 // Finished P16
These were the wettest conditions I’ve ever driven in. It was pretty horrible out there. You can’t see anything when you’re following anyone, and you’re just hoping they’re kind of in the same position they were before with the same gap. The straightaways had so much standing water. They were worse than the corners. I had a nice spin on the back of the track part way through the race, but managed to bring the car back. It was certainly more learning experience.
Pirelli World Challenge
Kevin Estre // Driver of #9 K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsports McLaren 650S GT3
Started P4 // Finished P5
Today was definitely better than yesterday and we had a better launch on the start. I think we lost a couple positions off the line, but I made a move on the outside of turn one, which was good because I moved up to P3. After the first lap, Catsburg braked a little late in Turn 1, so I was able to pass him on the inside and gain another position then there was a long safety car. After that, the car was a lot faster than the Ferrari of Berretta, but it’s just impossible to pass here. It’s really tough, and they have good straight line speed, but I did my best to keep pushing hard. Later in the race Catsburg put pressure on me and I braked a little late in the first corner, unfortunately he was able to get back by me. I was having a small issue with braking in the first corner at the end of the long straight, once he got by me I was able to hold the 3rd position to the end. We’ve still got a bit of work to do on the handling of the new McLaren but we are improving every race. It was a tough race but we came away with good points and a podium finish. There’s still a long way to go in the season and I’m happy about the result. The team gave me a great car for both races. We’ve got to improve on the long runs, and then it will be perfect.
Robert Thorne // Driver of #6 K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsports McLaren 650S GT3
Started P16 // Finished P22
Frustrating day in the #6 car. Luckily, the car was running very strong and was really quick on track. I didn’t really have any major handling issues, but with a bad start and worse restart, we just weren’t able to be in the position we needed to be in. We don’t have the straight line speed to make the passes, so we really need to start out front and stay there. Hopefully we can be in a better position after qualifying next race, that will give me the opportunity to fight up front.
Darren Law // Program Manager
As we predicted, it was a crazy event. Anytime you run on a temporary street circuit your chances increase for accidents. Unfortunately, the crashes that occurred caused lengthy yellow flags. We are happy for Kevin. He had a great run and finished third in the second race, so we will leave here with a reasonable amount of points and most importantly both cars in good condition. Unfortunately for Robert, he had some incidents on track that took him out of the running but he had the speed to run at the front, so we will regroup and head to Long Beach. As we continue to evolve with the joining of K-PAX Racing and Flying Lizard, we learn every weekend, the cars are fast and show great potential, we’re looking forward to the next race.
Started P18 (P4 in GTA) // Finished P2 in GTA
Race two was a lot like race one with a long safety car period, which was holding us back again. Once we got going after that start, I got off the line well, and I was really confident in the car and the race track compared to yesterday. I was braking deeper and using the car to rotate more. My engineer was giving me more confidence last night to do so. MY confidence was there and I was able to pick through some guys on the restart and just stay out of the way. I almost got to that lead on the last laps. The Mercedes was struggling a little, but congratulations to him. We were close, but came up short. Big thank you to EFFORT Racing and Curb Records. That Porsche was pretty solid. With some confidence on the street courses, we’re looking good for Long Beach.
Started P7 // Finished P4
Great weekend. We were a little nervous coming into St. Petersburg. Typically, in the past, the GT3R has struggled a little bit here. I think we did a great job as a team. Came in second in the points, and leaving in the lead with a podium and a 4th place. I’m happy with that, heading into Long Beach. We’re going to be strong there. Great job to EFFORT and Porsche. I’m a little sad we couldn’t continue our 9 out of 10 podium streak, but 8 out of 10 is okay. We’ll regroup and go to Long Beach in a few weeks time and hopefully get our first win of the year.
