Detroit GP Preview: Historic Levels of Experience

The 2.4 mile, fourteen turn corridor of concrete and asphalt that runs through Belle Isle, Detroit, is the next stop on the 2021 IMSA schedule for Gradient Racing and the #66 Unit Nutrition Acura NSX GT3 Evo. The first street course of the season is a fearsome test for every driver, whether they be a full-time professional in a factory prototype or a part-time racer in the GTD field.

Gradient Racing driver Till Bechtolsheimer has no track time to fall back on other than his simulation work on iRacing, but his extensive background of top-level historic racing may prove to be extremely useful this weekend.

The resident of Manhattan is a regular entrant and podium finisher at the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco and believes his experiences racing in the Principality will be a major asset and should help him quickly develop a feel for the track.

“I remember my first laps at Monaco very, very distinctly,” the Englishman explained. “I was in my Allard J2 and I can remember having almost a sensation of disappointment. The track felt too tight for those cars, I initially felt like I was not going to be able to get any proper speed down on track and it was going to be a bit of a parade. But, within three laps, your brain somehow recalibrates and you're absolutely flat out. It's just amazing how quickly that happens. There’s going to be an element of that as well here at Belle Isle. In a GT3 car on the streets of Detroit, I could imagine the first couple of laps feeling a little cramped. But I'd like to think that the experience will be similar to Monaco, and you just adjust and kind of forget the fact that you're on a street course and there isn't really any room for error and just kind of get on with it.”

Bechtolsheimer has some recent IMSA experience that he feels will be a help on the streets of Detroit. “It's not a typical fixture on the IMSA calendar but I think the road course at Charlotte has a similar ‘street course’ vibe. You're up against the walls, and there really isn't any runoff so having run there in the NSX in 2020 will also be a help.”

Saturday’s race features only one prototype class but the prospect of staying competitive in a tight GTD field while steering clear of the battling prototypes is a daunting one. “To be honest, I find managing the traffic, or whatever is the opposite of that is, comes down to about 90% luck,” Bechtolsheimer explained. “You can have some influence over that in terms of being generous to a prototype at a certain part of the track where it's not going to hamper you too much etc. The speed differentials are so great that, when they've caught you, they're getting by you, within a corner or two. And it's not like you can manage that. I think all you can really do is focus on your line, make sure you don't make any abrupt movements and don't get in their way.”

Running close to the walls on the Charlotte Motorspeedway Roval in 2020.

The addition of the Pratt and Miller Corvettes this weekend does not concern Bechtolsheimer too much. “With the GTLM cars, the speed differential isn't so big and by lifting a little early or breaking a touch early you can let them pass you in a braking zone where it's not going to really hurt your lap. I think there's a little bit more art to that, with the prototypes, the speed differences are just so big that when they're on you, they're by you. And you don't really get much say as to when that happens.”

Again, Bechtolsheimer feels he can lean on his deep historic racing resume. His time racing his MGB against the monstrous Ford GT40s at the Spa Six Hours has given him plenty of experience of being the hunted as opposed to the hunter. “The speed differential between the GT40 and my MGB is way bigger than the one between a prototype and our NSX GT3, but that's all straight line speed, the cornering speeds are the exact opposite, you know, when a five liter GT40 overtakes me at Spa, I can stay two inches off its rear bumper through an entire complex of corners, because they just don't have any more grip that I do, they don't have any more aero than I do. So, you can stay with the car around all the slower corners at Spa. With a prototype on the streets, they are probably 20 mph faster than us on the straights but their cornering speeds and their braking abilities is where they're getting all that lap time. And so it's quite different from that perspective but ultimately it's the same problem with the script flipped.”

Despite significant differences in performance characteristics between the Classic Ford GT40 and the contemporary IMSA prototypes, Bechtolsheimer outlined one particular area of commonality. “You can’t hear the GT40 until it is next to you, then ALL you can hear is the GT40! You’ve settled in and you're in your rhythm and then suddenly this thing's screams-by you! If you’re not paying attention it'll give you a real fright!”

“If you can't hear the GT 40 coming you're definitely not going to hear a DPI coming. Again, you'll hear them when they go by you but you know the sound is nothing compared to the big Ford V8 with open pipes! You're being informed on the radio by your team that a DPI is approaching. You know, when you're at the Spa Six Hours the only communications are only allowed through pit boards.”

Ultimately, whether Bechtolsheimer is racing an 1800cc Four cylinder British Roadster through the Ardennes or a 3.5 Liter V6 Twin Turbo purpose-built GT car on the streets of Detroit, he says one thing remains the same “you have to look in your mirrors!”

Till joins his regular partner, Marc Miller for the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup at the Detroit Grand Prix. The race weekend kicks off with opening practice on Friday, June 11th at 8am ET.

Coverage of the event is available via the NBC Sports Network, IMSA Trackpass and IMSA.TV for International viewers without a TV broadcaster, IMSA Radio and via Satellite Radio on Sirius 216 and XM 210 in the USA. For full event coverage please follow Gradient Racing on Twitter at @GradientRacing, on Instagram at @gradientracing and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GradientRacing/.