Janco Earns Podium Finish in Eventful, Shortened Race in New Orleans

AVONDALE, La. (April 11, 2015) – Five minutes of racing gave Performance Tech Motorsports one podium finish and two drivers searching for more Saturday at NOLA Motorsports Park.

The 30-minute sprint became a dash when two long cautions turned the race into a game of waiting and chance. Joel Janco turned the caution-strewn race into his third podium finish of the 2015 season of Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, placing second in Lites 1 Masters. Robert Alon and Austin Versteeg faced rougher races in Lites 1 for Performance Tech.

Drama set over the 13-turn, 2.75-mile circuit after just two laps of racing. Alastair McEwan spun off in Turn 13, causing the first full-course caution. The field slowed as safety officials worked to remove McEwan’s car from the track. Alon stayed focused and ready for the restart in the No. 00 entry.

Staying in his leading rivals’ mirrors, Alon was setting himself up to move from his seventh-place qualifying position to sixth when the green flag waved. But the car in front of Alon quickly braked under caution, causing Alon to hit the rear of that car on the front straight and veer off course.

No damage was sustained, and Alon kept position while under yellow. He finished the shortened race 11th.

“I had a good car under me today,” Alon said. “We didn’t get enough laps in to show it and make it count. But we couldn’t really do much about it; I got into an incident on the front straight under yellow and went off course a few times. Some of that I own, but some of it wasn’t my fault. Tomorrow hopefully we’ll still have the car, and we’ll have more time to make our way to the front.”

Versteeg started the race from the fourth position and was ready to gain ground before the first yellow flag. Unfortunately, his race was cut even shorter when his car’s relay quit working and caused the No. 16 entry to shut off in Turn 3. Versteeg was able to restart the car and slowly made his way around the track before the car once again shut off. He was towed into pit lane.

Once in pit lane, the Performance Tech crew quickly fixed the problem and sent Versteeg back on his way. Just before Versteeg re-entered the race, the second full-course caution came out. Versteeg caught the field but finished 20th.

“The car felt really good during the first few couple of laps that I got under green,” Versteeg said. “The three JDC cars pulled away a little, but under yellow I positioned myself to so that I could reel them back in for the restart. The car was there. It was just a little bit of bad luck with the car shutting off.

“I think it has to do with some water getting into the electronics during qualifying. Overall, I still feel really good about tomorrow. You never can predict the weather until you show up at the track. The results didn’t show, but I think it was a really productive day.”

Janco kept the on-track drama at bay and finished the race with a second-place L1 Masters podium finish. Janco was amid much of the action but skillfully avoided all incidents that caused the long cautions.

“It’s another second-place finish, so we’re being consistent,” Janco said. “But we’re going to push for first. The car was great, and I was having a lot of fun racing with Michal (Chlumecky). I look forward to tomorrow. Hopefully we get a few more green laps. Performance Tech did a great job, as usual.”

Team Principal Brent O’Neill was disappointed with the constant contact in the race but has full confidence in his drivers’ ability. O’Neill is positive that with clean racing tomorrow, his drivers can finish on the podium, rain or shine.

“Luckily all of our cars are fine,” O’Neill said. “Joel’s car is in great shape; Robert’s car is good. Austin’s car is fine. We just had to replace a relay that got wet in qualifying and then heated up during the race and decided to quit working. Robert, unfortunately, got taken out of position after a bonehead move.

“That’s racing, and it’s a terrible cliché, but hopefully we’ll have a good race tomorrow. Our guys were happy with their cars with the three laps of racing, and they’re fine in the rain, so we’ll be good.”

Round 4 will be a 45-minute feature at 9:15 a.m. (CT) Sunday. For live results, visit scoring.imsa.com or follow @IMSALive on Twitter.