Watzinger Changes Aim

Subtitle:Lites 1 Masters Standout Sets Sights On Title After Strong Sebring Start

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 24, 2016) – After two hard-fought, improbable finishes at Sebring, the plan has changed for Gerhard Watzinger.

Watzinger, from Naples, Florida, finished second in the Lites 1 Masters class in Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2016 Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires March 17-18 at Sebring International Raceway. The two finishes vaulted him into the class championship lead at the start of his second season in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Official Development Series, four points ahead of ONE Motorsports teammate Todd Slusher.

That strong opening event, with consistent results in two very different races, has prompted Watzinger to think a championship run is possible this season in his No. 32 ONE Motorsports entry.

“There’s always a realistic view, and there’s something a racer wants when he goes to a race,” Watzinger said. “When I go to a race, I want to win the race in the Masters category. That’s my goal. If I went in there and said I could be fifth or sixth, I wouldn’t race. Whether it’s luck, speed or endurance, I want to win the race.

“I believe I can win it (championship). ‘Is it realistic?’ might be a different story. But we saw in Sebring hard positions earned through very different types of obstacles. It’s possible. It’s very possible.”

Watzinger qualified fifth in the Masters class for Round 1. His methodical nature sometimes hurts in qualifying, as he usually needs four or five laps to uncork his best lap. Qualifying was cut short by incidents at Sebring, and Watzinger only got in one flying lap.

But he used his consistent, smooth driving style to climb through the field during Round 1, which stayed green for its full 30 minutes. He finished second behind class winner Gerry Kraut in the No. 55 JDC Motorsports entry.

“I was all the way down on the grid when we started,” Watzinger said. “I was totally surprised I was able to work my way up. It was hard work. From how it started, I never thought I would be there. It was well-earned.”

Round 2 could not have unfolded more differently.

Watzinger started fourth, but the race was disrupted by four full-course caution periods. He had a gearshift problem and also lost his right-side mirror during the race, a crucial component on a clockwise circuit that features plenty of right turns like the historic 17-turn, 3.74-mile course at Sebring.

“Without my mirror, I couldn’t see when people were dive-bombing me (in corners),” Watzinger said.

Watzinger was running outside the top three in class while dealing with those obstacles with five minutes remaining in the 45-minute race. Then Masters race leader Gary Gibson was involved in a three-car accident with 90 seconds left in the race, and Masters standout Joel Janco also was involved in a separate incident on the same lap.

Those incidents forced the action-packed race to end under caution. ONE Motorsports teammates Slusher and Watzinger skillfully avoided the chaos, finishing first and second, respectively, in Lites 1 Masters.

“I maneuvered through the crash site,” Watzinger said. “You could not fit a piece of paper between the two cars and myself. I was a lucky old chicken. This is racing. You need to finish, first.”

Seeing the checkered flag has become one of Watzinger’s specialties since he climbed to Prototype Lites at the start of the 2015 season after racing with ONE Motorsports in another sports car championship.

Watzinger was running at the finish of all 14 rounds last season, which he attributes to the obsessive, meticulous car preparation by his chief mechanic, Simon Shepard. Watzinger’s best class result was second at VIRginia International Raceway, and he finished third in the Lites 1 Masters standings.

He’s even better this year. His hallmark consistency has reached a new plateau of speed, as his top practice time earlier this month at Sebring, 2 minutes, 3.108 seconds, was quicker than his best qualifying lap of 2:04.499 a year ago at Sebring.

“My previous car (in another series) had 450 horsepower,” Watzinger said. “That’s twice the horsepower of this car. But it didn’t have the same downforce. So I’m actually faster in turns with this car than my previous car.

“You just need to trust that the car sticks to the track. That I have learned over the last 12 months. I can drive the car much more on the limit.”

Germany native Watzinger also is reaching that limit more quickly during races. His increasing comfort and confidence with the Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine and riding on Cooper Tires have helped him overcome sluggish starts that plagued the first half of his 2015 season.

“I worked to be more aggressive on the first lap, the first two laps, to gain positions,” Watzinger said. “If I would add positions I gained versus positions I lost in the first lap, the second half of the last year is probably three times better than the first half of the year. In Virginia, I passed four or five cars in the first half. In Road Atlanta in the rain, and I like rain, I passed three cars at the start. Whereas at Sebring and NOLA, which were at the start of last year, I know I lost positions.

“This is one area where I believe I got much, much stronger.”

Watzinger’s body also has become stronger in the last year. Prototype Lites cars are physical machines due to high downforce and no power steering, which can create plenty of fatigue for drivers even in a 30-minute race.

So Watzinger, 55, has worked hard on his fitness so he can stay focused on performance all the way to the checkered flag.

“I followed the series in previous years,” Watzinger said. “I knew it was very competitive. But being part of it, you learn that it is hard work.

“Last year I stepped up my fitness program. I’m fitter this year than I’ve been in the last 10 years because I realized you need to be really fit to finish in a reasonable position.”

That’s important this year as a deep field of Masters drivers looks to succeed John Falb, who won the 2014 and 2015 Lites 1 Masters championships driving for ONE Motorsports before heading to the European Le Mans Series this season. Janco, Kraut and 2013 Lites 1 Masters champion Jon Brownson are longtime veterans of the series, while Watzinger will find tough competition within his own pit area from ONE teammates Slusher and Dave House.

Still, Watzinger expects the competition to remain fierce, but friendly – even if the title race comes down to him and a ONE Motorsports teammate.

“What I like about the team is we share experience and data among each other,” Watzinger said. “We’re competitors; we fight hard out there because we’re all Masters. We all share data and give tips to each other.

“The atmosphere is very friendly and professional within the trailer and the truck. In the evenings, we always go out to dinner together.”

One of those dinners later this year could include the celebration of a Lites 1 Masters championship.