After scoring the perfect result at Daytona, Mazda Motorsports is preparing to do it all again with Multimatic at the Grand Prix of Sebring. A 1-2 finish for the Mazda DPis once again showcased the cars’ capability, as well as the outstanding effort that the team had applied to preparing for Multimatic’s operational debut at Daytona. The hard work has continued as the squad prepares to continue the championship battle at Sebring’s 17-turn road course on Saturday 18th July.
The team members and drivers have continued to remain cautious between races, staying in the team ‘bubble’ to mitigate the threat of Covid-19. Harry Tincknell, Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez are all staying on a farm where they have used the time to train in the Florida heat and get in a few rounds of golf.
Winner at Daytona in the #55 Mazda (with Jonathan Bomarito), Tincknell said: “I’m on cloud nine after such a successful race at Daytona. We now move onto Sebring, which is one of my favourite tracks; it’s super challenging and I think everyone has heard about the bumps! It’s a track where I have always gone well. We were second coming into the final pit stop in 2018 before we had a clutch issue, but I had the fastest lap of the 12 hour race. We know the car is quick so we’re hoping for another top result.
“On a personal note, it is good for me to be able to focus on one championship this year. Last year I was on double duty and that was tough, both mentally and physically. It has been great to spend time in isolation with Tristan and Olly between races. Sebring will be hot and humid so we’ve been training hard to make sure we are in the best possible shape for the race. We did all of our debriefs via Zoom and then spent a fair bit of time playing golf, which will help me to reduce my handicap!”
Championship leaders, Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez have a score to settle at Sebring. Jarvis explains: “We head to Sebring on the back of two podium finishes at Daytona and full of confidence. Sebring has been a strong track for us in the past but also one where we have been unfortunate not to convert our pace into results so the aim is to put that right this coming weekend. Like every weekend we go there with the aim to win but with such strong competition it will be important to maximise our potential and pick up the all-important championship points along the way.”
Multimatic’s Executive Vice President, Larry Holt said: “We now have some momentum running the cars and a great result under our belt, so I’m expecting to be competitive at Sebring. Saying that, it is a rough old place that is hard on cars but this event will be a far easier deal than the 12 hour version. We know that our going-in set-up is good and just need to stop the normal tendency of going softer that the initial driver feedback initiates. I once again give all credit to Charlie Cadieux’s team management, not only from the preparation side but also in terms of how he is keeping everybody safe with stringent Covid-19 protocols and some innovative approaches to meetings and trackside engineering.”
