VESTI - FASTEST MAN AT SEBRING
If you dream of getting beat up by an unforgiving race track then Sebring is the place to go. It's a "bruised" Vesti, who has just finished his very first race on the track in IMSA for Whelen Cadillac Racing.
The circuit is one of the most iconic in the United States and is known for its bumpiness in particular. The raceway occupies a portion of a former World War II training base for the United States Army Air Forces.
"Yes, it hurts a little today, but a price you happily pay in exchange for a 12-hour race of this kind. The race went really well. It was great fun to drive. Lots of big smiles from inside my cockpit! Sebring is a track where my team is historically strong. And it was also clearly noticeable this time around. The car's handling was sublime - it had just the right balance through the turns. Something we worked very hard on to achieve. It gave me 110% confidence to push the car up to and beyond the limit. If you have that feeling when driving, man and machine seem to fuse and become one. The car was fine tuned by all 3 drivers throughout the race to maximize performance in the changing temperatures and grip.
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"I drove 109 laps and led the race for the vast majority of them. I pushed myself in the car and learned a lot. The most fun, but also the hardest part of the race, was definitely in the final half hour of my last stint, when it got dark. I had the two lightning fast Porsches behind me with two super drivers from Porsche Penske Motorsport: Matt Campbell and the legendary Nick Tandy. Nick Tandy is the only racing driver to have won all 4 Grand Slams in the biggest 24 hour races in the world: Le Mans, Nürburgring, Spa and Daytona. The game is definitely on with such a gifted top driver right behind me and breathing down my neck. It was a really tough fight, but so cool! We fought out a great battle back and forth.
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Despite the strong performance by Vesti and his two impressive teammates, Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber, the team had to settle with finishing P4 behind the two Porsches no. 7 and 6 and car no. 93 from Acura Meyer Schank Racing.
"It was extremely frustrating not to win or finish on the podium with the speed we had in the car. We deserved it. But we had challenges at the end of the race, where we had to pit several times to refuel the car. But that's how it is sometimes. We still had so much speed in the car! We've come a step further since Daytona. I can’t thank my teammates enough and Whelen Cadillac Racing for giving us an outstanding car to play with! Right now, I’m already looking forward to getting back in the car and continuing my learning and fighting for that first IMSA win.
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From a personal perspective, Vesti doesn't have much to complain about. In fact, quite the opposite. Vesti finished at the top of the race's scoreboard as the fastest driver on the track in average times. Fastest on average over 10 laps and in 20% of the race, Vesti was the only driver with lap times under 1.50 min/sec.
Vesti's next race is at Laguna Seca in May.
Photos by Brian Cleary
