Pirelli Paddock Pass: Jason Wolfe

Jason Wolfe enters the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX West Pro-Am finale in Las Vegas sitting second in points alongside his co-driver Samantha Tan.

This week in the Pirelli Paddock Pass, Wolfe discusses his full-time return to the North American racing scene after several years in Europe, how the SprintX format benefits driver coaches, the unknowns surrounding the Las Vegas weekend, and more.

What has been the highlight of your 2019 season?

“Probably Oregon. Sam and I were able to work pretty well together there at Portland and really got the car to where we wanted it.

“We had a good combined lap average. We started up front, she drove a great race, and I think that was our best. We’ve had podium finishes before, but I think that was the best one we’ve had this season.”

Where have you seen the biggest growth in Samantha’s driving as her driver coach as well as co-driver?

“To start out with she was a little timid with the car moving around in high speed corners and trusting the grip that’s there.

“She’s always been great in the slow speed stuff and her technique. It’s just having that overall trust in the car. She’s become a lot better with that as we saw in Portland.

“Coming off of the back straight there and into the esses she was getting progressively better there, and that was the perfect corner setup to really focus on trusting the car.

“I’d say that was probably the biggest area that she’s improved.”

How beneficial is it for you as a coach to be sharing the car on the SprintX weekends?

“It’s very important. That way I know that if she says the car is loose or is pushing, I’m also driving it.

“Our styles are slightly different, but it’s mostly the same feel so I can tell if maybe she’s just carrying too much speed into that corner or something like that.

“Having my data to overlay with her data is probably the most key part of that.”

How nice is it to be back racing in North America on a regular basis after several years away?

“It’s awesome! I really enjoyed racing overseas and I would do it again, but you just can’t beat the U.S. The series that we’re running in, it’s great.

“It’s a lot less travel, which is nice, and you still get to go to some of the best tracks in the world.”

How much do you enjoy driving this BMW M4 GT4?

“It’s great. The only other GT4 car that I’ve driven is really the Jaguar that I ran last year which was very much still in its development year.

“Jumping from that into an already developed and tested, tried-and-true car has been nice. I’ve been able to focus on setup stuff instead of overall major changes that needed to happen. It’s been a good change.”