Once past, I was flying as I was able to lap much faster than Dumas in the leading Porsche. The two Audis were up the road as well, but it was Dumas who I wanted. Soon, I was right behind him, and with a handful of laps still to go. I tried everything, but he defended well and didn't make a mistake, so I had to settle for fourth overall and second in class. Not a bad race, but it meant that we lost a little ground in the championship.
Onto Elkhart Lake and one of the best race tracks in North America. It's a beautiful part of the world and a rare chance to bring the family with me. We were feeling confident of a strong race as we had some engine and aerodynamic upgrades that would work well at what is a long circuit but, after the first day's running, all the Acuras were way behind the Penske of Dumas and Bernhard - and we were the worst.
We had a lot of discussions at the end of the day and spent much time poring over data to find out what was happening, as it wasn't what we had expected. The next day was much better as the changes we made to the car put it right back in the ballpark. As we got close to qualifying, I put in a pretty good lap and ended up second quickest behind one of the Audis. I was surprised to see that the Audis weren't quicker than they were as the long straights should have suited them nicely.
However, when it came to qualifying, I put us sixth on the grid, which was a little disappointing, but when I saw Gil was behind me, that made me happier…! One Audi was on the pole and the AGR Acura was second and first in the P2 class. AGR has been quick, but this pole was a long time coming. I thought that our car would be good for the race, though, so I wasn't too worried.
I started the race and we all got through okay, so it was a case of just keeping in touch and take anything that came. All the cars in front of me were fast and we were a bit of a train out there.
