Bryan Herta Autosport will run two of its Hyundai Elantra N cars in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour this weekend at Mid-Ohio for Harry Gottsacker and Mark Wilkins, but with drivers and cars both taking part in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at the same meeting, the experienced team owner and former IndyCar driver knows it will be a challenge for his squad.
“Obviously it’s a new adventure for us,” said Herta. “We’re excited to compete in the first US event for the KUMHO FIA TCR World Tour and to compete against the BRC Hyundai team. We’re realistic, as we’re using our IMSA race cars so we’re doubling up this weekend, which is going to force us to make some acute compromises due to the quick turnaround between some of the sessions. It’s a great chance for us to get a feel for what the level’s like, and we’re already there so it’s a great chance to compete in an international event.”
Reflecting on the challenges at running in a weekend with two TCR sprint races on Saturday, as well as the four-hour endurance race on Sunday, Herta explained: “In IMSA we run to the endurance race BoP, with different ride heights, camber requirements, and since we’re also running in the IMSA race, we’re probably not going to get to put a completely different set-up on the car to suit the KUMHO tyre compared to the one we’re used to running on, so we know there will be some compromise for us. But we balanced that against the fact it’s a big international event and it gets two more cars in the race for Hyundai, so I consider it a fun, extra thing we’re doing this weekend, but we know because of the double duty and the tight schedule, we’re not able to put the full duty we’d like to and maybe we’d get to in the future.”
Picture: WSC/MotorSportMedia
