Kudos for new Road Atlanta surface
“There’s more grip right now for sure," said Rahal’s Tom Milner. “I didn’t feel many more bumps, certainly nothing substantial. I liked not having concrete patches in turns 5 and 6 but some drivers think those are more technical. But it’s still the same Road Atlanta."
Both teams were conducting the first proper tests of their Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs as the Series takes a break before the Utah Grand Prix on May 17-19 at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City. Porsche is in the unfamiliar position of trailing the manufacturers championship as Ferrari and Risi Competizione have taken wins at each of the four opening rounds. Recent tests by Porsche teams could even things up for the final stretch run, which includes Petit Le Mans on Oct. 6 at Road Atlanta.
“It’s already very fast and it’s a pleasure to drive," Tafel Racing’s Robin Liddell said. “Certainly by Petit Le Mans the track will be better than it was before even with the wear and heat of the summer."
“It has helped the grip level," said Tafel teammate Dominik Farnbacher, who drove at Petit last year with Liddell and Alex Job Racing. “The biggest areas are turns 7 and 8, especially the corner leading on to the long backstretch. There were bumps that have been taken away but there are a few new ones. They aren’t very big though."
Even those will be gone in due time. Workers will remove the bumps when the temperature rises above 90 degrees and they can heat and re-roll those sections.
The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the Utah Grand Prix, set for 5:05 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 19 from Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City. CBS Sports will air the race at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 20. MotorsTV in Europe, SPEED Latin America and 7TV in Russia also will provide international coverage. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA’s Live Timing and Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.