2022 WRL: COTA T+8+8 GTO

From 4 cylinder Miatas to big 'ol BMW V8s, I take my first steps into what some may call, "the big leagues". World Racing League is apparently no joke, comprised of cars built to race from the factory at a level right below IMSA. On top of it all, I'll be doing my first WRL racing at a real Formula 1 track, so there's a lot on the line, but I'm ready to jump in.

Open Throttle Racing #63 GTO

BMW E92 M3 (paddles, wing)

World Racing League: COTA “National Championship”

Circuit of the Americas - Austin, TX

Dec. 2, 2022 - Dec. 4, 2022

Event Preparation & Overview

So much hype and excitement has been building up to this race. Starting from CMP when we first considered the event, to riding along at COTA with Jacob, and the cherry on top...Formula 1. I feed unbelievably luck to experience this sequence of events leading up to my first WRL event. Overall, my plan is to approach the whole weekend from a learning perspective and make sure I have fun. I am going to use this weekend as a chance to take a big step in both racing and photography, so I've done the prep work to get the most out of the race. From a driving point of view, I will be focused on the following:

• Braking: Get to know a new braking feel and depend less on engine braking...I need a rhythm for paddle shift braking.

• Shifting: Paddle shift muscle memory.

• Traffic: Who knows...

Practice Day

It was great to see everyone on Friday morning and I was looking forward to all of it. They showed up with a new car that got put together just in time for the trip...anther E92 M3, but meant for GP1. A bunch of the Open Throttle team go to turn laps, including Amy. Everyone was stoked to get out there!

Here we go, first laps turned on COTA...and on a V8! Everything felt so new to me, but the ergonomics were very familiar and reminded me of my own BMW. My previous experience in V8s had given me the impression that everything would be a ittle more "boaty" compared to my time in 4- and 6- cylinder cars. Once I got on the gas coming out of the pits, it was clear that I, indeed, had the incorrect perception. The car was incredible to drive and had tons of power all across the rev range! Since I had turned so many laps at COTA on the sim during series racing and practice, I could completely focus on learning the car and fine tuning my lines.

Race 1

The driver lineup resulted in me closing out the day in the last stint for the checkered flag. I was totally ok with that and trusted the team with the car. Plus, it would be pretty cool to bring the car home to finish the race. Each driver takes 2 consecutive stints, about 1 hour each with an additional fuel stop between driver changes.

Kevin and Ben ended up coming to watch my stint, which was super cool! Not a lot of people could make it out but it was really nice and motivating to see them come out to support.

Now, for the actual racing! Jacob started us off for the crazy WRL GTO 2-phase start. In the first lap, he did great to be a part of everything and kept it clean and aggressive. Suddenly, he came in for a broken drive shaft, which he quickly identified when it failed on track. The Open Throttle crew is incredible and jumped into action quickly, the first of several times they magically put the car back on track.

My stint went very straight forward, except for the weird shifting issue that we had been fighting all day. I took evrything slow and focused on being smooth and efficient. Although there was an attempt, I still over drove the front end and was asking too much from the tires. I blew through a lot of corners throughout the stint, but Turn 11 and some critical corners gave me trouble all day. Sector 1, all the way to Turn 11, was my strongest section. I carried a ton of speed through the whole complex, but probably could have improved slightly through T8. Traffic management was straight forward, and I gave up corners and did most of the overtaking on the straights. There were occasions when I would do some cheeky stuff around T6 and T7, but only if I had to.

• Fast Lap: 0.41 sec slower than Jacob

• Average Lap: 0.36 sec slower than Jacob

• Fast Lap Team Spread: 2.6 sec

• Average Team Spread: 3.1 sec

• Efficiency & Consistency shows only a few laps over 2:40.0 with high lap time consistency that only deviated ~1.5 second.

I am extremely satisfied with my performance, but clearly see areas of opportunity. For being my first laps at COTA to be in a WRL race in a BMW M3 is crazy.

Race 2

Another day in good ol' Austin, TX at COTA. After a successful Saturday, I am ready to try and improve on it. Jacob made some set up changes, because the overall concensus was that high-speed lefts were a huge struggle.

Ben came out again, and Gloria joined him! It was so good to have some of my closest friends and biggest supporters with me during such an awesome time in my life. They enable me to be the best I can be!

Busting out of pit lane for the third stint, and I immediately do the exact same things wrong. In every important big braking zone, I am unable to stop and turn the car. As a result, I blow corners all day and even go 4-off in some cases. On top of that, turning left feels very different. For the fuel stop, they had to make some front tire adjustments, and that had immediate improvements on my grip levels. Even still, I could not get in a flow like the previous race, and felt stuck with my pace. The high-speed rights did have more rotation, but I had to make too many changes on the fly to adjust to the new characteristics of the left-handers.

• Fast Lap: 1.7 sec slower than Jacob (+1.3)

• Average Lap: Equal to Jacob (-0.4)

• Fast Lap Team Spread: 2.1 sec (-0.5)

• Average Team Spread: 1.0 sec (-2.1)

• Efficiency & Consistency shows that all of my laps were completed under 2:40.0 with high lap time consistency that only deviated ~1 second, both an improvement from the first day.

Finally, Jacob hops in the car for the final stint of the weekend. For pace, he was about matching Saturday, but when he brought the car in for fuel, it burst into flames!!!!! As Brad #2 was capping the tank, the overflow dripped onto the brakes and lit up in a 10 foot ball of fire. Cindy was super quick to react and lunged at the flame with an extiguisher. A huge ploom of white powder and smoke emerged while Jacob egressed. With the assistance of the track fire marshalls, the car was put out and ready for Jacob to hop back in. After all that, he sets the team's fastest lap right out of the gate. 2 laps later...he beats that!

Overall, I wasn't super happy with my performance because I was unable to fully adjust to the setup changes. It was a chain reaction to me overdriving the front even more. At the same time, I am really glad to see that my consistency developed in ChampCar has carried over to a different series and car.

Clips & Driving Analysis

The few encounters that we will call battles:

• tbd

Braking: This needs a lot of work. I was braking way back because I don't think I was using enough pressure and I am not sure if I even used ABS. On top of that, I overslowed and carried no corner speed, up to 10 mph slower in some cases. Basically, a huge area of opportunity would be to get more comfortable putting lateral load on the car. I'd give myself a 54%.

Throttle: I need to get on throttle earlier and get more comfortable holding slip angle while powering out. There were frequent large lift moments. Not only that, I need to roll more speed off-throttle through corners. I'd grade it a 68%.

Shifting: Couldn't really shift right all weekend, but it should not have had an effect. It benefits to wait on the shift towards a lower RPM so I can focus on the braking. Maybe 70%.

Traffic: It was not that bad to be honest. There was a healthy amount of traffic to overtake and to be overtaken by. One thing I could do is time passes better with a run. A challenge of mine is trusting that I won't bump right into the back of them, which causes me to bleed more speed and miss the timing. I will think about getting more comfortable up close. There was room for improvement, so I'd give myself a 79%.

Photos & Media || DLC (below)