Now you see the tower…
I was at Circuit of the Americas this past weekend for the first time this year, coaching Kyle Kimball, a driver who is new to the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Series. He is going to be teaming with Racing Analytics this coming season, which is the same team that I helped last year when Ashton Harrison and Patrick Wilmot were driving for them.
The purpose of the weekend was twofold. Mainly, it was to let Kyle learn the circuit since he had never been there before. COTA is the first event on the Global MX-5 Cup calendar, coming up next month during the Pirelli World Challenge event. Also, the weekend was a chance to get Kyle more experience with the platform and to impart general series knowledge to him for the upcoming season.
…now you don’t!
Having never met Kyle in person before, we developed a plan in advance and he utilized iRacing to really “study up” before he got to the circuit. I had given him a lot of notes and information ahead of time, which he was able to incorporate into his iRacing practice. It really showed when we arrived at COTA, and he greatly impressed me right from the start. He drove almost like he had been there before.
Despite all the crazy weather that Mother Nature threw our way, including sporadic rain and both fog and thunderstorms that brought delays, we were able to optimize the three days of testing. Overall, I was impressed with not only Kyle’s pace, but with his athleticism and mental focus, as well. Kyle has a diverse background in competition cycling and mountain climbing, and I believe that experience will help him as he embarks on his first pro racing season. I look forward to seeing Kyle’s success this season in the Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Series.