Before drivers ever show up at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this September, they have been hard at work, preparing themselves and their cars for the 2019 NASA Championships.
To qualify for the NASA National Championships Presented by Toyo Tires, drivers must compete in and score points in five regional races around the country. We caught up with several drivers to see what they’ve been doing to prepare for the 2019 NASA Championships
NASA Prototype
NASA Great Lakes points leader Barry Brooks is preparing himself and his NP01 for his first Championships event in NASA’s premier prototype racing class.
“This is my rookie year and I’m learning that you can’t prepare enough for a race weekend,” Brooks said. “Every mistake I make, I’ve been jotting down in a notebook. Broken parts without a spare, check. Scramble to fill a forgotten tank before a session, check. Thinking there will be time to do X at the track, nope. Check, check, check. I’m embarrassed to say the notebook is pretty full. So, the one thing I’m focused on is all the little things that add up.”
German Touring Series 2
2018 GTS2 Champion Kerry James’ home region is NASA Great Lakes, so he has raced at Mid-Ohio a few times this year. Obviously, James would love to repeat his victory of last year at Circuit of The Americas.
“Mid-Ohio is a very different track to COTA, so I started the year with a number of changes to the car, and since then I have been working on dialing in the setup,” James said. “I have also previously suffered from no seat time at the Championships tracks, so I’ve been sure to run the Great Lakes Mid-Ohio weekends.”
German Touring Series 3
Eric Magnussen had to withdraw from the 2018 NASA Championships after an unfortunate wreck. With his BMW M3 repaired in the offseason, Magnussen is focused on the task at hand at Mid-Ohio.
“This season, the No. 330 GTS3 BMW M3 is undefeated — four wins in four races — and Main Line Motorsports continues to monitor data and tire temperatures every session on track to maximize grip,” Magnussen said. “We’ve been working with Bimmerworld and EPIC Motorsports to provide maximum power and torque for our configuration, and can’t wait to get on track with the best competition from around the country to see how we stack up!”
German Touring Series 4
NASA Great Lakes driver Ed Baus has a GTS1 Championship trophy on his shelf from 2011, when he drove his Porsche 944 to victory at Mid-Ohio — and he’s been chasing another one ever since. Baus now competes in a Porsche 911 in GTS4, a large and competitive field at any NASA Championships event.
“We have made the decision to make some significant changes to our car,” Baus said. “We are widening the body, changing the setup and balance, as well as some changes to the electronics of the car. We only have one testing opportunity at Mid-Ohio, which will be at the NASA August event, so we feel that we are taking a pretty big risk making the changes this late in the season. Whatever will happen in September will be very exciting, and we are looking forward to coming to Mid-Ohio with the best in the country to race with NASA.”
NASA Championships Presented by Toyo Tires
Dates: Sept. 18-22, 2019
Location: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio
NASA Championships event information page: https://nasachampionships.com/
NASA Classes and Rules: https://nasaproracing.com/rules/
NASA will be posting daily updates from the track at https://nasaspeed.news/, so be sure to check in regularly.
