Continental Tire - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (P, GTLM & GTD) – September 24, 2017
Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge – September 23, 2017
 
Track Characteristics
Joao Barbosa, driver of the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DPi
It is a big challenge because it is the first time we are going there with the Cadillac. It is a challenging track on its own, and it will be hard to learn find the best set up for the car.  There isn’t another track that we’ve already been to that we can say ‘oh let’s use that as a baseline for Laguna.’  It just has a lot of characteristics that are different from anywhere else that we race. The track hasn’t been that kind to us in the past! But we are looking to turn that around with some good results. It is a challenge in a number of different directions. It is a low grip track because there is no grass there and there tends to be a lot of sand on the track.  But I think overall we’ve been finding a good direction with the Cadillac and have some things that will hopefully work at Laguna. The little details make a big difference. 
 
Scott Pruett, driver of the No. 15 3GT Racing Lexus RCF GT3
First, it’s a great track to go to. Who doesn’t to go to Monterey, Carmel, all the things that happen there, the Rolex Historics and all those great car event’s. Now when you go there with a race car and you look the challenges that go with that, it always tends to be grip. Without a doubt. I think it’s just the way the track is itself. I’ve been there with Indy Car, sports cars, I’ve been there with all these different things over the years and that’s the common thread with everything. I feel that when we are looking at the car setup, we are always looking to find that balance where you’re looking at the long run, tire durability, performance over the run, trying to find the most grip you can. As the weekend progresses, and more rubber gets on the track, the challenge becomes less and less.
  
Tire Management
Joao Barbosa, driver of the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DPi
I think it will be the same for everyone. The big thing is that with that low grip, the tires are sliding around a lot and that is really demanding on the tire. So you need to have a car that works well with the tires so that it can work well with the car. If the car isn’t working right, that will make the tires work more than they should be. So having that balance will let you keep the tires at the peak performance for longer in the stint and that is super important. Just having a car that can be consistent all the way through the fuel and tire run, that is the key. Be as fast as you can be at the end of that run—hopefully as fast as you were right at the start of it! 
 
Scott Pruett, driver of the No. 15 3GT Racing Lexus RCF GT3
For the race it will be four new tires every pit stop. Different than a couple times this year, like Watkins Glen, where we were double stinting them and they were fantastic. They were going faster in the second stint than they were on the first stint. For Mazda Raceway, for sure, four tires every stop, a pretty straightforward race. It’s going to be a pretty hectic race because you’re going to have Prototypes, and PC’s, GTLM and GTD’s on a very short track.