AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 19, 2015) - Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen finished ninth in GTD in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Lone Star Le Mans race run at the Circuit of the America's this afternoon.
MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) had the controls of the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche for the start. Taking the decision to start at the back on sticker tires, MacNeil was able to make up ground during his stint. At the driver exchange Keen (Charleston, S.C.) exited the pits in the top five. As the race progressed the Texas heat took its toll on the tires of the WeatherTech Porsche affecting the handling. Battling an ill-handling car, Keen took the checker in ninth place.
"I had a pretty good stint," MacNeil said. "We started on sticker tires at the back and that really helped. I was able to make some good passes and move us up the order. It was progressively getting hotter and that really affected the car. The team did a good job with the handling improvements from yesterday which helped, we just needed a little more today. We will welcome Andrew Davis for the final race at Road Atlanta in two weeks."
Keen is ready to move onto Petit Le Mans.
"Really tough weekend," Keen said. "I think it was the toughest weekend we have had all year. We have thrown everything at the car all season. I am looking forward to Petit Le Mans. We are really close in the cooler weather with the Porsche, but once it gets hot we just seem to struggle. It was hot today that really affects the rear tires on the car. We will move forward to Petit and see if we can end the season with some excitement."
The TUDOR United SportsCar Series will travel to Road Atlanta and Petit Le Mans for the season finale Oct. 1-3.