ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (August 7, 2016) – David MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Gunnar Jeannette (Salt Lake City, Ut.) finished the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Road Race Showcase run at Road America this afternoon 13th in GTD.
MacNeil, founder and CEO of WeatherTech, had the wheel of the No. 77 WeatherTech Porsche for the start of the race. The elder MacNeil started next to his son Cooper who was in the 22 WeatherTech Porsche. Putting in a strong first stint David MacNeil handed the car over to teammate Jeannette. As the race unfolded Jeannette ran as high eighth. The straight line speed of the competition was too tough to overcome at the long four-mile Road America circuit and the team came to the checker in 13th today.
“The start was pretty crazy,” David MacNeil said. “I started next to Cooper and there were about four cars behind us. Going into Turn 1 we were three cars wide. The car was handling well in the early going. I turned the car over to Gunnar with a lot left. Gunnar drove a good race. We just need a little help with the BOP (balance of performance) so we can be competitive out there in the race.”
“It is a little disheartening when you are going as fast as you can and then an Audi and BMW pass you like you are tied to a post on a start,” Jeannette said. “Our Alex Job team cars finished 11th, 12th and 13th and that shows where the pace of the Porsche is right now. The Alex Job Racing team prepared excellent cars. I don’t think we had any more than that today.”
“David had a good start to the race,” team owner, Alex Job said. “He handed it over to Gunnar and in a few laps was right with the pack. It is pretty plain to see that the Porsche is down on speed on the straights.”
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will travel to Virginia International Raceway for the Michelin GT Challenge to run August 26-28.