IMSA: Curran, Marsh Racing took giant step in Prototype class

Ted Marsh knew that the step up from the GT class to the Prototype ranks meant a steep learning curve for his team based in Old Lyme, Conn.

The merger between the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón into the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship – and the resulting changes to the Daytona Prototypes – made that climb even steeper. The recent race at Road America provided the team with a breakthrough fifth-place finish, their first time in the top five at a TUDOR Championship event. Curran was co-driving with Burt Frisselle, who was subbing for regular co-driver Boris Said.Eric Curran has been with Marsh and Sonny Whelen’s motorsports team since 2007, running in the SCCA World Challenge and NASCAR events. The team made the move to the Rolex Series GT class in 2010, with Curran and Said co-driving the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Corvette. Curran won the first race for the team in 2011 at Road America (co-driving with John Heinricy subbing for Said), and also won the 2013 season finale at Lime Rock Park, co-driving with Lawson Aschenbach.In addition to running full-time in the TUDOR Championship, Curran continues to compete in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, continuing his association with the series since its inaugural season in 2001. Curran and Lawson Aschenbach scored the team’s first victory of 2014 in the No. 01 CKS Autosport Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R in dramatic fashion, taking the lead within sight of the checkered flag. It was Curran’s 15th career victory in the series, tying him for fifth on the all-time list.How big was the fifth-place finish at Road America for the Marsh Racing team?“It was big for us. A top-five finish for that Whelen Corvette DP was a big deal for us. It’s been a struggle all year overall, and to finish in the top five was kind of like a win for us, really. Burt Frisselle did a great job. I started – which was the first start for me in a DP – and then Burt got in. We were running in the top five for most of the race. I got up to fifth early in the race, and we ran it home. Burt was running fourth late in the race, and then the Spirit of Daytona got by him and he fell back to fifth, but we’ll take it. Those guys have been working so hard, and we’ve had a real up-and-down season. I’m really happy for all the Marsh Racing guys and the hard work they’ve put in.”How more of a challenge was it for the team to move from GT to the Prototype ranks, given the merger to the TUDOR Championship and the changes to the Daytona Prototype cars?“For sure, it was a big step, but we knew that going in. Going from GT to DP would have been a big step two years ago, never mind this year with all the changes in the aerodynamic stuff, carbon brakes and all the different things they’ve added on. It’s made for an extra challenge for us, jumping from GT to Prototype. It’s ultra-competitive, real high-tech cars, and now they’re even more high-tech with all the downforce and the additions. It’s been a very steep learning curve for our whole team. We’ve have some tough races, a couple of races in a row where I didn’t even get into the car. That’s resulted in a lack of seat time. Now we feel we’re kind of starting to get on track. The car’s starting to get comfortable to drive, and it’s a lot of fun to drive. We just don’t have the speed yet with the likes of the competition. But we keep getting better, and hopefully in the next couple races we’ll be inching further up in the top five.”Are you looking forward to the Lone Star Le Mans at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas?“I’m excited for that. I love that track. What’s not to love about it – one of the coolest tracks in the country, and running a DP around there is going to be a blast. We had a real fast Whelen Corvette GT car there, and so much fun to drive there. I can’t imagine how much fun the DP is going to be.”Looking back at Road America, what where your thoughts watching the finish of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race?“Watching our No. 01 CKS Team Chevy Camaro coming across the finish line was awesome. It didn’t look like we were going to win on the last lap – that Subaru of Pierre Kleinubing was fast, fast. Unfortunately for them, but fortunate for us, it broke coming out of the last corner, and that brought home a win for us. The CKS guys had been working hard all year and they had been so close and the car’s been so fast. We finished second and I can’t tell you how many laps I’ve led, so it was really nice to get a win.”Did you ever win – or lose – a race under similar conditions?“It’s funny, but at the same track – Road America – we won in our Whelen GT Corvette, and it was the same type of finish. We were fourth or fifth going into the last lap, and cars started running out of gas left and right. We just had enough fuel to make it to the end and we won – although I had no idea that I won when I took the checkered flag. It’s interesting to have two races within a couple of years that has the whole outcome change on the last lap. Pretty awesome stuff.”