Preview: Monterey Sports Car Challenge
The 3.60 km (2.238 mile) long WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca located in the Californian desert just twenty minutes east of the city of Monterey will host the first VSCA Sprint Cup race of the season that goes the distance of two hours and 40 minutes.
At the same time, the Monterey Sports Car Challenge will also represent the end of the season’s first trimester and that means the season’s mid-way point is not too far away.
“The season hasn’t been what we had hoped for so far. We are working very hard on turning things around. Everybody is very committed, but it’s not been easy. There have been some unexpected challenges affecting all of us in the team.”, team manager Benjamin Fischer said.
One of the unexpected challenges includes parting ways with Hungarian driver Marton Tihanyi, who had been driving with the team since late 2021.
A few days ago, it was also leaked that Pascal Theis was going to miss the race at Laguna Seca as he could not travel to California for personal life reasons.
This forced Fischer to scramble and find two replacement drivers for the No. 85 Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“Fortunately we have found two excellent substitute drivers, even though I really don’t like that term at all, because it makes them sound like second grade, but to us they’re just as good as anybody.”, said Fischer.
Jay Van Meppelen from Canada and Stephen Nobes from England will team up in the No. 85 Porsche at Laguna Seca. While it is the team debut for Van Meppelen, Nobes has one previous start with the team in last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans where he finished in second place.
“I’m excited to be back. When the phone rang and Ben asked me, whether I had any plans, I noticed I was free that weekend and immediately started preparing. I’m motivated to help the team in any way I can and get the best possible result this weekend. It should be a fun race.”, Nobes commented.
Van Meppelen chimed in, likewise: “I really appreciate the opportunity. I’ve been working towards my goal of competing in the VSCA SportsCar Championship the past few months and now it finally happens for me. I couldn’t be more excited about this. I’m hoping for a good race.”
In the No. 84 Porsche it is the usual suspects teaming up once again – Manuel Mayer and Nelson Eberth. Eberth, who struggled with a couple of crashes at Sebring last month, is hoping to rebound, but expects a difficult race at a track he has never competed at before.
Leading the way will be the team’s P2 Prototype entry. Niclas Pedersen and Jason Birnie will share driving time in the No. 14 Dallara P217 at Laguna Seca, running under the banner of Fischer Motorsport USA – the organization’s race shop based in San José, California – making Laguna Seca the unofficial home track race for the team.
The Monterey Sports Car Challenge is scheduled to start under the green flag on Saturday 16:00 GMT / 12:00 am EDT and will be featured on a VSCA live stream on YouTube (no commentary).