Performance Tech Motorsports Mazda Raceway Post-Race Report

Performance Tech Motorsports collected its second podium finish of the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season with a third-place finish Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The team picked up its second consecutive third-place finish in the Prototype Challenge class, this time with Mike Hedlund and James French behind the wheel of the No. 38 ORECA FLM 09 machine. Hedlund made his first start with the team this season today in the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda.Performance Tech also earned the same final position at the Twelve Hours of Sebring in mid-March. The team's last podium finish at Mazda Raceway was another third-place result in 2013. "It was a rough start, but the team came through perfectly," Hedlund said. "They gave us a good car. James handed the car over to me in third place. and I just tried to bring it home. That's all we had to do."A rough start to the weekend kept the team wondering if the No. 38 PC would run near the front of the field at all during the weekend. Through the first two practices Friday, Performance Tech was running near the bottom of the time charts, a steady sixth or seventh. But the crew used hard work and determination to make all the right adjustments leading into qualifying Saturday. French was just one-tenth of a second away from the pole in qualifying."This feels excellent," French said. "I think now that the team has had some time working together and having some of the same drivers, we've been able to find some consistency and repeat results. I think from where we started at the beginning of the weekend to where we ended up, we made a ton of improvement really fast. Everybody did a really great job to make us feel comfortable, give us a good car and finish the race in a good spot."Team Principal Brent O'Neill has been a team owner for more than 30 years, so wisdom and knowledge gained during those decades helped him realize all was not lost Friday."Today was a good day," O'Neill said. "Mike and James did an awesome job. We didn't start out doing so well this weekend. I can tell you Friday night was a little bit of a struggle trying to figure out how we were going to get this thing to the front."But with the help of Ryan (lead engineer, McCarthy) and all the strategy and engineering he did, we made it happen. All the guys did such an awesome job; our pit stops were flawless today. James and Mike brought it back without a scratch or nick on the car. So hopefully we can take it to Detroit."Lead engineer Ryan McCarthy is proving his worth at as he travels with the team to each race event. O'Neill and the crew at both Sebring International Raceway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca have applauded his strategies."It was a big accomplishment for the whole team," McCarthy said. "Everybody worked really hard. Looking back to the beginning of the week, I thought it would be pretty unrealistic to think we would end up on the podium. I'm really proud of everybody. It was good to have Mike onboard for this race. James did a great job. Thanks to them both for trying so hard. Thanks to the team for giving it their all."Performance Tech Motorsports hopes to continue its podium momentum at the next event, the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic on May 29-30 on Belle Isle in Detroit. It's Round 4 for the PC class in the 2015 TUDOR Untied SportsCar Championship. The race will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1.Keep up with Performance Tech Motorsports by following the team on  Facebook and Twitter at @Perf_Tech. For more information on the team, visit performancetechmotorsports.com.