Mikaël Grenier Confident Ahead Of Rolex 24
GRENIER JOINED 2021 GTD ROLEX WINNER WINWARD RACING FOR THIS 60TH RUNNING OF THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA CONFIDENT THEY HAVE A SHOT AT RENEWING WITH VICTORY LANE
Last week’s Roar saw Winward Racing no. 57 Mercedes AMG GT3 take the qualifying race win in the GTD class finishing ahead of no. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 of Crucial Motorsports and the no. 12Lexus of Vasser Sulivan(following penalties to Wright Motorsports’ Porsche for tire infringement, NDLR).
Speaking with Mikaël at an IMSA event last night, he showed confidence in the team getting a second win in a row at the Rolex.
“We can say we had good weekend at the Roar and definitely winning the qualifying race is nice as we prefer to start the race ahead of the pack in GTD. So far, for the race, the weather looks like it will be nice although quite cold during the day and overnight. It will be tricky on tires especially coming out of the pits on fresh cold tires. Even though we can play with tires pressures, we have to be careful as the tire temperatures will get up there after a few laps. I expect there are going to be a number of full course yellow throughout the night especially. So the goal will be to maintain a good pace and strategy to make it through the night and be in the running for the last part of the race.”
“Our Mercedes AMG GT3 had good pace at the Roar although it is difficult to know exactly what Porsche and McLaren had. I am expecting them to show more performance from what we’ve seen at the Roar. I am confident that we do have a good shot at the win nevertheless.”
The teams have three practice sessions between Thursday and Friday. Two of them taking place today followed by a one hour session Friday. Weather looks uncertain as there is a chance of rain showers throughout the two days. Which may interfere with the team preparing for the Rolex 24 come Saturday.
“For sure right now looking at the forecast it looks like there is a high possibility that we are going to have rain at some point over the next couple of days. We have planned to try a couple more set-up configuration on the car but we will see what will happen. For certain, if there is rain, we don’t see the point in running as sunny conditions are expected for the entire race. So, we rather play it safe and stay away from possible damage on the car.”
If all goes to plan, Mikaël will first behind the wheel in the morning session and then for the evening session, all four drivers will take turn. Mikaël is not expecting to drive in Friday for the final one hour session.
Image: IMSA
