Auto racing: So a few moments ago I got off the phone with the great Porsche driver for Brumos in Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, Flying Lizard Motorsports in ALMS, and Motorsport Technology Group in Grand-AM Koni Challenge, Darren Law. Yes, he is a busy man. Even with everything that goes on in his life, he still found sometime to call and talk to me about his past race at Lime Rock, and his upcoming Rolex Sports Car races at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio.
Darren raced this past weekend in the Koni Challenge at Lime Rock Park for Motorsport Technology Group in a Porsche 997 911. Unfortunately they had an electrical problem in one of their practice sessions, but were able to get the car straightened out and Law ended up finishing 8th with teammate Andrew Davis.
As for his next race, Sahlen’s six hours of the Glen, Darren had some great things to say about Porsche and Watkins Glen the track, in particular. He said that going through the S-curves and the uphill portion of the 3.4 mile track you can hit about 180mph in the #58 Brumos Porsche Riley Prototypeby the end of the back straight. Pushing about 500hp from the Porsche's Naturally Aspirated 3.8L 6-cylinder was one hell of a feat, we both agreed, and one that Porsche seems to do “very well” Mr. Law concluded. Law said that Watkins Glen is a track that he looks forward to all season because of how fun of a track it is to race.
I talked to Darren a little about the following race at Mid-Ohio, or the EMCO Gears Classic, he said that it was going to be a good race; it is a technical track that takes a lot of precision. It seems that the 2.2 mile track is good for theV8 engine cars, as they are able to deal with the lower to mid speed corners due to their bigger power plants. Still though, this does not faze Darren and his Brumos Porsche team. He says that it should be a great race for him and his teammate, David Donohue, who both have great experience and success with this type of track.
One thing I had to know, as a racing enthusiast, was what goes through a driver’s mind while racing. Darren said that his mindset during each session of the racing series is totally different from the other. He said that while practicing he is thinking what exactly the front and rear of the car are doing while taking practice laps around the track. He said he was also thinking how the team can, including himself, find the best compromise between handling and speed. During qualifying, he said, it is much different. “During qualifying, I am thinking about which corners are worth more than others to get the best lap time.” As for the race, he said, “I am not thinking of nailing a corner as much as I am thinking about not making mistakes.”
Darren is a Porsche lover. Not only does he race them professionally, but he drives a 911 himself. He says that there is a noticeable difference in the engines, simply because his street car has a lot less power and RPM’s as his race cars,but as cars, they have a lot of driving passion which doesn’t really change between the street and race cars. They still have their great Porsche driving traits, he said.
Look to Auto Sport Blog to provide race coverage of Darren Law and all of his races, pre and post.
Thanks to Darren Law for taking the time out of his busy schedule to have a fun conversation with me.
