The eighth race of the IMSA SportsCar Championship in Elkhart Lake was a huge disappointment for Mario Farnbacher. Although the Franconian and his Spanish teammate Alex Riberas had secured a third pole position, the Road America race meant one setback after another. Finally, the duo had to be content with twelfth place.
Mario Farnbacher would prefer to quickly forget the race on the traditional US Wisconsin state circuit. “Nothing fitted this year”, the 24-year-old concluded. “We definitely had a top speed disadvantage compared with our opponents and bad luck followed on top of that. We were in a pole position, but the final result is what counts.”
The ill wind continued after a third of the 2.40 hours race. “A part of the brake pedal detached itself, but we repaired it. And I unfortunately oversaw a red light when leaving the pit lane exit after a stop and that cost us a 60 second penalty, so basically the race was then already run”, recalled the Porsche driver.
It was just twelfth place for 24-year-old Mario Farnbacher. But the Team Alex Job Racing pilot isn’t discouraged and stated, “We won’t give up. There are three more races to go and we’ll do our best to end the season with a top championship position.”
Mario Farnbacher has another chance of winning in the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 26th – 28th August, when North America’s most important endurance race series is hosted by the Virginia International Raceway. A week before, the Franconian takes the wheel of the Lexus RC F GT3 in the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft. The season’s sixth race is scheduled for 20th August on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
