Flat 6 Motorsports Claims Victory at VIR!
In the late spring, Flat 6 Motorsports acquired a Spec 986 Boxster with the intention of going endurance racing. With just a couple of weeks of preparation and a long list of safety to update, the team at Flat 6 Motorsports prepared the car for a 15 Hour race at Atlanta Motorsports Park (AMP). The team finished 3rd place with consistent lap times and solid pace for the field. Our special guest driver, Randy Pobst turned out consistent laps and gave our team some good feedback with set-up.
With a couple of months between races, the team at Flat 6 Motorsports made some key changes to the car to prepare it for a 15 Hour race at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). This event is broken into two races, Race 1 being 7 Hours and Race 2 the following day at 8 Hours. The team swapped the Bilstein PSS9s for a set of Ohlins Road & Track coilovers, with modified spring rates, making them akin to the Track Dedicated kit. We also swapped the GT3 LCAs for Tarett Engineering Race Spec LCAs. After some challenges putting power down out of slow speed turns at AMP, we added an OS Giken Limited Slip Differential (LSD). We also added a 9 Lives Racing Rear Big Wang to provide more downforce to the car. With the changes in hardware, the Flat 6 Motorsports team performed a Flat 6 Precision Track Alignment using state of the art motorsports tools.
The setup provided some key distinct advantages relative to the 51 car field. With the improved dampers, alignment and downforce, the Flat 6 986 Boxster was head and shoulders above the competition in cornering speeds and carrying speed through the esses. The lightweight platform and Girodisc Rotors and GP-35 Pad compound provide elite braking where we made up substantial time and performance. With VIR having 2 very long straights, we were outgunned by 400HP+ vehicles like a E90 M3, 370Zs, V8 Mustangs and Camaros. Despite the disadvantage with outright pace the team performed with proper planning and elite execution. The refreshed car ran without issue. We finished 2nd place in Race 1 after a small penalty and took 1st place in Race 2. With the results, we were the overall winner of the weekend! Despite the 200HP power gap, we ran in the top tier class (Class A) in the series. The proper set-up, planning, execution and driving the wheels off the car, provided us what we needed to finish 1st overall.
If you're interested in learning more about the car or watching previous Live Streams, check out our page here.
