Jeff Davidson
Lazzaro and MacNeil to Start WeatherTech AJR Porsche Sixth at Laguna Seca
MONTEREY, CALIF. (May 11, 2012) - Alex Job Racing's (AJR) Cooper MacNeil and Anthony Lazzaro will start the No. 22 WeatherTech AJR Porsche from the third row in GTC in tomorrow's running of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) Monterey presented by Patron at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Lazzaro (Atlanta, Ga.) had the controls of the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche for qualifying, posting a time of 1:28.641, good for a third row starting position in GTC. Lazzaro and MacNeil (Hinsdale, ILL) have been working with the crew all weekend to get the WeatherTech Porsche handling around the 2.2-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca circuit. The circuit is surrounded on all sides by sand that blows onto the racing surface as well as the asphalt being sensitive to the sun and heat.
"We have about wore the adjusters out on the car today," Lazzaro said. "We unloaded and we weren't really in the Ball Park with the handling. It has been a while since I raced a Porsche, but I think we have it working pretty decent. In qualifying we went faster than we have all weekend, so that shows progress. Between Cooper and me, we have a good driving package. We have some more work to do in warm-up tomorrow on the handling. The car has a lot of understeer that we have to try and manage out. The team is working hard together, and the results are showing on the time sheet. I have been coming here for 15 years. The track conditions change hourly with the dust and the sun."
MacNeil knows what it takes to win at Laguna Seca, having won the Rennsport Porsche Cup race here last fall.
"My laps today and yesterday were good," MacNeil said. "We made a lot of changes to the car each time we went out. All of the changes have moved us forward, which is good. Anthony did a good job in qualifying. The whole GTC field is very tight. It is a long race tomorrow. We will be looking to have a strong race run and add maximum points for our championship run."
Alex Job, team owner, has his team working methodically on the handling of the WeatherTech Porsche.
"The WeatherTech crew has been throwing a lot of changes at the car to cope with the changing track conditions," Job said. "Cooper and Anthony are working well together and giving the same feedback, so we are progressing up the speed chart. The GTC field is very tight. We will be focused on running a clean, mistake-free race and be in a position to fight for the win at dusk tomorrow night."
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