This past weekend was a great event at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the IMSA 6-hour Battle on the Bricks. I was working with Dean Neuls for the last Lamborghini Super Trofeo race of the season (on the North American side at least, since the World Finals are in Misano, Italy in November).
Dean has had quite a first season racing Stateside since all the circuits have been new to him. It’s been a fun undertaking to not only help him learn the tracks but to also help him continue to develop his race craft throughout his successful race season.
Things got off to a great start at Indy with a competitive day of practice. Having tested a couple weeks prior, things were still fresh in Dean’s mind, and we continued to evolve and polish all the fine details of making a perfect lap. Dean had great pace, and there was lots of excitement heading into qualifying.
With a mixed qualifying result due to a red flag incident that kept the session from running clean, everyone’s ability to get into a rhythm was hampered, and it mixed the grid considerably for both races.
Dean started race one all the way back in eighth in class, but he quickly moved forward with a tremendously exciting first lap, avoiding lots of drama to find himself inside the top five after the opening lap. From there, outright pace was key, as he continued to cut the gap to the leaders.
After an efficient mandatory pit stop, Dean was able to keep pushing forward and made two incredible passes to slot himself into second place before the checkered flag. This was a monumental result, having driven all the way from eighth place, and it really put an exclamation point on his development this season.
I was truly proud of not only the results but of Dean’s progress this season. Although race two did not go as we had hoped, with a spinning car in front of him that took out several innocent bystanders (including Dean), the year as a whole was filled with positives and great results. Dean’s second-place finish at Indy was a fitting cap to the season.
Dean plans to be back next season, taking everything he learned this year to make a run at the championship.