Blam: “Pretty Straightforward” Strategy for COTA GT4 Enduro

Photo: Bob Chapman/Autosport Image

Race strategy for this weekend’s first-ever Pirelli GT4 America endurance race at Circuit of The Americas is expected to be “pretty straightforward” according to Flying Lizard Motorsports chief strategist Thomas Blam, who has outlined the team’s general plan of attack.

Saturday’s three-hour contest will see GT4 America competitors race into the dusk at COTA, offering increased drive time over the typical pair of 60-minute sprint races, while adding refueling and tire changes.

Blam, who is renowned for being one of the leading strategists in top-level sports car racing, downplayed any expected complexities or elements that could give teams an edge in the pits.

He indicated the race’s maximum stint length of 50 minutes will likely dictate the overall strategy, with drivers not able to exceed 100 minutes of total drive time over the course of double points-paying round.

Additionally, teams are able to select both their qualifying and starting drivers, which is expected to trend in one direction.

“There’s a 50-minute max drive time so you’ve just got to back-time it from there, when to possibly stop the earliest,” Blam told Sportscar365.

“I’m not sure what everybody else is going to do but we’re going to start our Am drivers. We’ll have our Pros qualifying and our Ams start and then just work it out from there.

“You’re not allowed to double stint, so it’s pretty straightforward.”

A new element for some GT4 America competitors will be live refueling with a fuel rig, which several more experienced teams like Flying Lizard could have an advantage on.

However, with a rather lenient 90-second minimum pit stop time, measured from pit-in to pit-out, Blam doesn’t expect teams to encounter any major dramas.

“I think most of these teams are OK with that kind of stuff,” he said. “We’ve got three fuel rigs for our three various [races], the two GT4 and the [one] GT World Challenge America.

“We don’t have a lot of experience changing tires quickly [in GT4]. We’re a little nervous that you can strip a [lug nut] or do something.

“But they’ve given us enough time where you don’t really need to rush and we should be able to take our time doing them.”

Double-stinting tires is also unlikely to happen, given that teams are allocated up to four sets of Pirellis for qualifying and the three-hour race.

Tire changes, meanwhile, can be performed during refueling by a maximum of two crew members.

Flying Lizard is fielding its two full season entries, a Nissan Z GT4 NISMO GT4 for Damir Hot and Rodrigo Baptista, plus fellow Pro-Am class competitors Todd Parriott and Tom Dyer at the wheel of an Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Nissan is coming off its maiden victory for the Z GT4 in worldwide competition last time out at Sebring International Raceway with Blackdog Racing, which is also taking a close look at the strategic elements to Saturday’s race.

“We will keep spending considerable time working through our strategy and pit stop planning and practices to make sure we’re prepared,” said Blackdog team manager Ray Sorenson.

“This is an area where the race can be won and lost. Our goal is to be one of the best crews on the pit lane and let Michael [Cooper] and Tony [Gaples] do what they do best on the race track.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John