Next Level European Mazda Raceway Post-Race Report

The new Next Level European racing team had two fantastic races to open its account in IMSA's Continental Tire Series. A fourth-place finish at the season-opening race at Daytona and a win at Sebring demonstrated the quality of the program and the pace of its Porsche Caymans, and with a visit to California's famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course, the team got its first taste of adversity.

A change to the Cayman's technical regulations designed to slow the cars by reducing the amount of air that feeds the engine was made by the series heading into last weekend's race. With less horsepower at their disposal, the Nos. 38 and 83 NLE Porsches were lacking the speed needed to compete for meaningful finishing positions. Contrasting the Cayman's limitations, the smallest cars in the ST class thoroughly dominated the event, placing 1-2-3.

"Well, you can't win 'em all...," said NLE team owner James Clay, whose cars were left on the outside of the top-10. "Certainly this track isn't going to be won by anything but the namesake given the current performance balance, but we missed slightly as well. We are still learning this Porsche Cayman platform, but we still showed the speed that will give us Championship potential this season - onto the next one!"

Although the NLE Caymans were not able to contend for another top-3 result, Clay says the other areas of the car that weren't affected by the power reduction were amplified.

"The restrictor on the Cayman is certainly noticeable, but we have been focusing our development efforts at this point on other parts of this platform, and while we may have lost power, our MCS suspension and Guard differential specifically are getting more dialed in to make up for some of the lost power," he explained. "We have strong technical partners, and we will continue to have race-winning cars through the season."

The No. 38 Cayman driven by Seth Thomas and Dan Rogers incurred damage when it was hit during the race, leaving the race-winning duo in 20th at the finish after pitting for repairs. The No. 83 Red Line Oil car piloted by Greg Liefooghe and Eric Zimmermann was pushed to its limits, yet could do no better than 13th after 2.5 hours of racing.

Even with the frustrating result, the Sebring winners departed California with the ST points lead.

"We've had a lot of early success so far with the Cayman, and this weekend was more of a learning weekend," said Liefooghe. "I think we came out with a lot of knowledge about the platform which will help us for the rest of the season. We are where we want to be in the points standings, and we will come back stronger for the next race after we do some additional track testing."

QUOTEBOARD: Monterey Race

No. 38 Porsche Cayman: Seth Thomas and Dan Rogers

Thomas: The Cayman was definitely drinking air through a straw at Laguna but thanks to the NLE team we did our best to overcome the effect. The downside to our weekend was being hit by an overtaking car which kept us out of contention for a run at a top-10 finish. The hit broke the toe link in the rear which the NLE crew replaced in record time.

Rogers: The NLE Caymans were definitely disadvantaged by the technical adjustments made since Sebring, but the crew worked to even the playing field the best they could. We missed the entire first day due to some fueling issues, and had a tough qualifying, but we were moving up the field in my stint to 15th until we got hit in the corkscrew. The crew did an awesome job getting the car back together which allowed Seth to finish the race. We, of course, are disappointed with a 20th place, but are looking forward to Watkins Glen in six weeks.

No. 83 Red Line Oil Porsche Cayman: Greg Liefooghe and Eric Zimmermann

Liefooghe: It was great to be at my home track with family and friends. Eric did a great job applying what we learned at Sebring, and his racecraft is getting stronger every race. We are working on the car development and I'm excited to see what we will discover.

Zimmermann: The car's 13th-place finish was a disappointment. The whole team worked hard to give us a solid platform, but Laguna didn't prove to be our friend and the performance penalty was clearly our enemy. That said, each event is adding to my skill base, which can be drawn upon as the season continues. Time in the car and Greg's continued, excellent coaching are putting me in a better place to help the two of us succeed as the season continues.