SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI CAR

Willows, CA, Dec. 4, 7:00 a.m. PST — As the dawn broke, the ART ESX JustRacing.com Subaru WRX STi CAR that I'm co-driving lies in a solid 3rd place overall. We're six laps behind the second place car, a BMW M3, and seven laps behind the leader, a very strong running Porsche 911. We have a possibility of catching the 2nd place BMW on speed, but the Porsche seems out of reach unless it breaks. With five more hours to go before the race conclusion at noon, anything is possible.

Our car got through the night session relatively unscathed. My first session in the car came at dusk on Saturday when we were in fourth position; we managed to hold that despite running out of brakes towards the end of the two-hour segment. I brought the car in because the pedal was going to the floor while braking for corners and the inside front pads were so worn that the caliper pistons had left impressions in the pad backing plates.

After a new set of Pagid endurance pads and fresh tires, the car proceeded through four more reasonably uneventful sessions until I got back into it at 3:50 AM. (I actually got a few hours of sleep in the hotel between my drives, but responding to the 2:30 wakeup call definitely took some willpower).

During my second drive in the car, it was still running well. The brakes were not powerful, the gearbox and engine were solid, but the tires felt a little greasy. The car basically understeered everywhere and a good lap required a little trail-braking to help the car turn into corners and patience in applying the power exiting them.

In heavy traffic while driving through turn six (a medium speed left), the Mazda Miata directly in front of me suddenly slowed for no apparent reason and I tapped his left rear corner with my right front. The contact wasn't heavy enough for either of us to spin, but it did damage the mount for our light bar, which had been producing prodigious illumination.

Though the light bar was vibrating afterwards, the lights were still operating and the car was otherwise undamaged. But two laps later, the light bar lifted off the hook and folded back. Concerned that it would break free completely and kill the windshield, I immediately pitted and since I was more than an hour and half into the drive, we fueled and performed a normal driver change. Unfortunately, the light bar mount was too badly damaged to repair, so the crew removed the lights and with only about an hour left to sunup that solved the problem.

Overall, we are in great shape for the last five hours of the race. Despite the long night, the crew remains alert and productive. Marshall Pruett's thorough planning and preparation has paid off in spades in both preventing problems from occurring and making sure that the team was prepared to deal with the inevitable surprises that did arise. Most important of all, the car remains healthy and fast — ready for the sprint to the finish.