Date: 22.03.10
James Walker was in Florida last weekend for the 'Roar before
the 24', the three-day test ahead of the 24 hour race at the
Daytona International Speedway on 30-31 January.
It was a weekend of firsts for James: first test in a Porsche GT
car, first time at Daytona and first test for an endurance
race.
"My first impressions of Daytona are exactly as I expected,"
said James. "The place is awesome! It's such a famous track and
after seeing it on television so many times it is great to get out
there, especially on the banked sections which are a lot of
fun."
As a single-seater racer James is used to having the car all to
himself so he had to learn how to share at Daytona.
"I'm used to being in the car all day at tests but here I got
40, maybe 45 laps, in the whole three days," he said. "The Porsche
has a lot of power but these cars are much heavier than
single-seaters so they behave very differently. The biggest
challenge for me is getting used to the fact that the car moves
about so much under braking due to the extra weight and less grip.
It's a great car though and I can't wait for the race so I can
drive it even more. The other drivers in the J Lowe team have a lot
of experience at Daytona. Jim Pace in particular as he's been doing
this race since 1989! It has been interesting to learn from their
experience."
As well as getting to grips with a new car and a new circuit
James enjoyed learning about the importance of strategy in 24 hour
racing. The team's race engineer is Dr Steve Bunkhall, one of the
best strategists in the business, so James certainly has a good
teacher. He has a lot to digest over the next couple of weeks
before he heads back to America for the race itself at the end of
the month.
"The race is going to be mega," commented James. "I've really
had a good taster of what's to come and I can't wait to get back
out there to race. I've still got so much to learn so I'm just
soaking it all up. I'm the rookie here!"