JDX / Hertz Racing Settles for Two Top Seven Finishes at Road America

LOVELAND, Colo. (August 8th, 2016) – Following a podium finish at The Glen just four weeks ago, JDX Racing looked to return to top form and take on all challengers as they kicked off the second half of the 2016 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama season. Unfortunately Ricardo Perez and the JDX Racing / Hertz Porsche missed the podium for only the second race event of the season this past weekend, collecting two top seven finishes at the historic 4-mile Road America race track in Elkhart Lake, WI.

JDX Racing and sports car ace Ricardo Perez arrived at Road America on Wednesday, starting the weekend off with a scheduled promoter test day. The No.02 JDX Racing / Hertz Porsche took advantage of the additional track time leading into the traditional GT3 Cup two practice sessions on Friday with early morning qualifying on Saturday.

RPL qualified his Yokohama shod Porsche GT3 Cup car ninth for the first race of the weekend, placing him on the inside of row five for the traditional rolling start. The field of 21 Porsche’s rumbled up the iconic (and very steep) Road America uphill towards the green flag in pursuit to the fast paced sweeping turn one. Ricardo jostled for position clearing turn one cleanly, navigating around the No.77 car at the apex of turn five, followed by a brilliant pass of the No.91 in turn eight. Perez continued his pursuit of the race leaders, but he spent the rest of the race holding off the attack of three competitors from behind. Following 45 minutes of green flag racing with no full coarse caution period, RPL brought home a hard fought seventh place finish.

The final race of the weekend on Sunday morning had the JDX Racing / Hertz Porsche again starting in ninth position on the grid. Ricardo quickly gained two positions on the first lap, fully exploiting his abilities on cold tires. He battled the No.63 of McKay Snow for a few laps and managed to motor away, focusing on the car ahead, the No.77 of Mike Hedlund. On lap 14 a full coarse yellow flag came out, setting up a sprint to the finish. Once the safety car lights went out, the green flag flew for the remaining 12 minutes of green racing, however RPL didn't get a great restart and had to settle for a solid sixth place finish.

Perez commented, "We all worked very hard this weekend, Luke gave me a great car. The JDX Racing / Hertz / Telcel Porsche had the speed, but so did the rest of the field. Starting in ninth with all the talent in the field is tough. I was able to make some clean passes early on the first few laps, but was only able to match the speed of the leaders, This track is all about carrying speed through the corners paired with mistake free driving. I did that, but so did most of the guys in-front of me.”

Team co-owner Jeremy Dale said, “We continue to make progress with Ricardo and the car. Not grabbing a podium on a race weekend is disappointing, as Ricardo's only goal is to put the No.02 JDX Racing / Hertz Porsche at the front of the field. We had pace, but that's only one part of the equation. We're already looking at data and looking forward to VIR, another high speed, technical track that will test both the team and driver."

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