Brian Lock Tests Grand-Am GT3 Cup Car for TRG
07-02-2008, 02:32 AM
#1
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Location: Scotts Valley, CA
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Car Info: #93 Koni Challegne Subaru Legacy GT, 96 Impreza L
Brian Lock Tests Grand-Am GT3 Cup Car for TRG
Scotts Valley CA, 6/30/2008
Grand-Am Koni Challenge Racer, Brian Lock, participated in an all day test at the Rolex Series special test day at Mid-Ohio June 23. Lock, a promising talent from Scotts Valley CA, has been turning heads in Koni competition since 2006. Even on an extremely limited schedule, Brian makes his presence felt in the ST class, with remarkable drives, fast laps, and even a lap record at Miller Motorsports Park in 2007. Although pleased with his success in touring cars, it was time to take the next step and accept an invitation to test a Rolex GT car.
Brian spent the day with TRG drivers, Spencer Pumpelly and Andy Lally, who extended his stay in Ohio to help coach Brian's first laps in a Porsche. "He was able to jump into a car that was nothing like any other that he had driven before and showed both maturity and speed right off the bat", Lally said. Spencer, who was Brian's co-driver for the day, was complimentary as well. "I was instantly impressed by Brian's driving. He took the right approach bringing the car up to speed in a short few laps but was well within his comfort level. Before long he was turning times that would have been competitive in last weekend's race."
Read More... http://www.gotoracing.com/main.php?page=news&article=0
In-car Video... http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...83437242904691
keep it coming and kickin ***!
07-02-2008, 10:01 AM
#8
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Car Info: #93 Koni Challegne Subaru Legacy GT, 96 Impreza L
Thanks guys! Everyone that has ever posted on one of our press release threads or come out to the track to say hi, that kind of stuff has really give me the energy to keep plugging away at my career over the last 4 years.
I will always love driving Subaru's, but that Porsche was amazing. Here is my personal account of the day.
Session 1:
I had not even sat in the car in the pits when Spencer Pumpelly came in from bedding in the brakes. I looked over at Marc Manning(the crew chief), and he signaled with his hand and made this face that was kind of a cross between a "show us what you got" and a "if you dare" expression. However I think the "if you dare" interpretation mainly came from me knowing that I was about to jump into Andy Lally's racecar. If I wrecked it, not only would I find myself on the bad side of a pro driver, and a big team owner, but I would throw away the teams budget for the rest of the year. No pressure or anything.
I went out and drove the entry of the corners very conservatively, probably braking 1.5 times as early as I needed to. I was hoping to get used to the mid corner and corner exit handling of the car before I started pushing the braking zones. Andy Lally, who was spotting for me up in a tower, had other ideas. He came over the radio and told me that I could push the 130mph braking zone into turn 2 to the 2.5 marker. I had been braking at about the 4! It took all the nerves I had to finally stop thinking about the price tag on the car and just drive. I trusted Andy and began pushing the braking zones harder. The car stopped beautifully. Right about the time I got comfortable the rain started coming down and Grand Am called the session. This was kind of perfect because it let me download my thoughts and realize that I had to start showing these guys something and stop being afraid of wrecking the car.
Session 2:
I got in after Spencer warmed up the car on track. I was a lot less nervous this time, and the lap times showed it. I broke through the mental barrier that had been holding me back, and my lap times were immediately in the 28' and 27's. I came in and the crew put on new sticker tires and sent me back out. Once the tires came up to temp I turned my best time of the day, a 1:26.8. Spencer came over the radio, "great lap Brian!" I felt really good with the car at this point, it felt like I had been driving a Porsche for years. The car handled amazingly. So consistent, great on the brakes, and the transmission was so much fun.
I came in and the look on everyone's face was so confidence boosting. They all said they had never need someone get in a Porsche for the first time and do so well. I was a little less than 2.5 seconds slower than Spencer in only my second session in the car. They told me that my time was only a few tenths off of their fastest gentleman driver that had been with them for years.
Session 3,4:
After downloading with Andy and Spencer, the data showed that my exit speeds were equal to Spencer’s. I was losing most my time on entry into the 3 fastest/scariest/wreck-the-car braking zones. After some pointers from two of the best Porsche drivers in the country, I went back out on track in the heat of the afternoon. At first I was disappointed because my times were not improving, I turned a 1:26.9. That was until Spencer came over the radio and told me everyone else had slowed down by over a second. I was in a very comfortable zone, I was turning 1:27 flats over and over, and I thought that consistency was the best thing to show the team at this point in the day. The track was greasy, my body was fatigued, and the only way I could screw up this day would be to wreck the car. So I turned 25 laps of 1:27.00 to 1:27.4's in clean traffic laps, and ended the day with a huge smile on my face. Especially when Spencer went out after me and our lap time margin narrowed to only 1.5 seconds in the heat!
I could not have asked for a better day. I did not put one wheel wrong, and really impressed the whole team. The TRG guys were great! Andy and Spencer were also really nice. To be coached by just one of those guys would have been a chance of a lifetime, but to have them both there to give me pointers was more than I could ask for. A huge thanks has to go to Kevin Buckler to make this whole thing happen. I have been talking with him for a while and he really tried hard to make the day work. And the faith in me that they showed giving me Andy's car to drive rather than one of the rentals was really huge.
I want thank to Kevin, Andy, Spencer, Mark, and the whole TRG crew for the faith they showed me this last week. I hope to involved in a lot more Rolex action in the future, and I thank them giving me my first step.”
I will always love driving Subaru's, but that Porsche was amazing. Here is my personal account of the day.
Session 1:
I had not even sat in the car in the pits when Spencer Pumpelly came in from bedding in the brakes. I looked over at Marc Manning(the crew chief), and he signaled with his hand and made this face that was kind of a cross between a "show us what you got" and a "if you dare" expression. However I think the "if you dare" interpretation mainly came from me knowing that I was about to jump into Andy Lally's racecar. If I wrecked it, not only would I find myself on the bad side of a pro driver, and a big team owner, but I would throw away the teams budget for the rest of the year. No pressure or anything.
I went out and drove the entry of the corners very conservatively, probably braking 1.5 times as early as I needed to. I was hoping to get used to the mid corner and corner exit handling of the car before I started pushing the braking zones. Andy Lally, who was spotting for me up in a tower, had other ideas. He came over the radio and told me that I could push the 130mph braking zone into turn 2 to the 2.5 marker. I had been braking at about the 4! It took all the nerves I had to finally stop thinking about the price tag on the car and just drive. I trusted Andy and began pushing the braking zones harder. The car stopped beautifully. Right about the time I got comfortable the rain started coming down and Grand Am called the session. This was kind of perfect because it let me download my thoughts and realize that I had to start showing these guys something and stop being afraid of wrecking the car.
Session 2:
I got in after Spencer warmed up the car on track. I was a lot less nervous this time, and the lap times showed it. I broke through the mental barrier that had been holding me back, and my lap times were immediately in the 28' and 27's. I came in and the crew put on new sticker tires and sent me back out. Once the tires came up to temp I turned my best time of the day, a 1:26.8. Spencer came over the radio, "great lap Brian!" I felt really good with the car at this point, it felt like I had been driving a Porsche for years. The car handled amazingly. So consistent, great on the brakes, and the transmission was so much fun.
I came in and the look on everyone's face was so confidence boosting. They all said they had never need someone get in a Porsche for the first time and do so well. I was a little less than 2.5 seconds slower than Spencer in only my second session in the car. They told me that my time was only a few tenths off of their fastest gentleman driver that had been with them for years.
Session 3,4:
After downloading with Andy and Spencer, the data showed that my exit speeds were equal to Spencer’s. I was losing most my time on entry into the 3 fastest/scariest/wreck-the-car braking zones. After some pointers from two of the best Porsche drivers in the country, I went back out on track in the heat of the afternoon. At first I was disappointed because my times were not improving, I turned a 1:26.9. That was until Spencer came over the radio and told me everyone else had slowed down by over a second. I was in a very comfortable zone, I was turning 1:27 flats over and over, and I thought that consistency was the best thing to show the team at this point in the day. The track was greasy, my body was fatigued, and the only way I could screw up this day would be to wreck the car. So I turned 25 laps of 1:27.00 to 1:27.4's in clean traffic laps, and ended the day with a huge smile on my face. Especially when Spencer went out after me and our lap time margin narrowed to only 1.5 seconds in the heat!
I could not have asked for a better day. I did not put one wheel wrong, and really impressed the whole team. The TRG guys were great! Andy and Spencer were also really nice. To be coached by just one of those guys would have been a chance of a lifetime, but to have them both there to give me pointers was more than I could ask for. A huge thanks has to go to Kevin Buckler to make this whole thing happen. I have been talking with him for a while and he really tried hard to make the day work. And the faith in me that they showed giving me Andy's car to drive rather than one of the rentals was really huge.
I want thank to Kevin, Andy, Spencer, Mark, and the whole TRG crew for the faith they showed me this last week. I hope to involved in a lot more Rolex action in the future, and I thank them giving me my first step.”
07-02-2008, 12:52 PM
#12
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OMG OMG OMG!! w00t! This is so sweet for you B.Lock. It would be so cool to finally see you in a Rolex ride after talking about it so much. Congrats on the testing dood! Hope you get a Rolex ride soon! Good Luck!
-Greg
-Greg
07-02-2008, 02:33 PM
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Wow... for most of us, that would be a chance of a lifetime. I have a feeling that for Brian, it's cool for now, but will just be a stepping stone to the next chance of a lifetime. Congrats on doing well, and good luck with whatever comes next.
I took my son up to Scotts Valley one day when you guys had the Suby on display at the shopping center. We still have those pics and will be really cool to see you progress up through the ranks.
We've been rooting for Scott Pruett on the Rolex races. My wife used to know him back in the 80's when he was just getting started. Maybe we'll have two guys to root for, and one of them won't be likely to retire anytime soon haha.
I took my son up to Scotts Valley one day when you guys had the Suby on display at the shopping center. We still have those pics and will be really cool to see you progress up through the ranks.
We've been rooting for Scott Pruett on the Rolex races. My wife used to know him back in the 80's when he was just getting started. Maybe we'll have two guys to root for, and one of them won't be likely to retire anytime soon haha.