Continental Tire IMSA Driver Spotlight: Andy Lally

Driver Spotlight: Andy Lally
Driver, No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America
Follow: @AndyLally

What did you think of Sunday’s GT-only race format?

“I think the Rolex Series concept was a great idea. Jim France and his team had a great idea to simplify sports car racing and reduce the number of classes to two. This in my opinion was one of the best ideas and directions they ever had, so an event like VIR where we only had two classes was nice. To me it doesn’t matter if it is two prototype classes, two GT classes, or one of each. This past weekend was refreshing.”

What do you think of the 2015 schedule? Any particular track you would have liked see?

“I was a little disappointed that Indy was not on the schedule but I understand the logistics and other things are very hard to pull off.”

Does double-duty give you any type of advantage on a race weekend?

“Sometimes it is a help in a situation where we are heading to a new race track that I may not know, but for the most part, it is not a big deal because after all these years most of these guys are going to be within 99.8 percent of what they will run for the weekend in their first five laps.”

Talk about Magnus’ year so far and what your expectations are for the final two races…

“This has been an up and down rubber band year that I have not experienced in many years. Our highlights are a huge victory in Sebring followed up by two podiums at Watkins Glen and Laguna but then we’ve had disaster weekends at Indy, Mosport and Detroit that have had me pulling my hair out trying to figure out where we went wrong. For the final two races we would obviously like to rebound and close the year off with strong finishes as we try to figure out a direction for 2015 which could literally be anywhere. So many things up in the air right now.”

How does your extreme sporting activities help prepare you for racing?

“I like to stay active and fit away from racing but I do not like traditional gyms, treadmills and weight training. I’m an active mountain biker, street luge racer, I train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and dable in mixed martial arts. These are great cardio exercises for me that are not mind numbing and I think that is an very important part of the training. They are strenuous activities that you have to constantly think your way through. Staying cool, calm and collected while someone is trying to put me in a position to break my arm or choke me unconscious has strikingly similar needs for clear thinking under stressful moments as driving 180 mph while two inches off a competitors bumper.”