Gradient Racing Looks to Finish on a High Note at Road Atlanta

The 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Championship will come to a climax at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta next week with the 25th running of Petit Le Mans, a 394 lap, 1000 mile examination of speed, endurance and character. Gradient Racing returns to Georgia with high expectations after a productive two days of testing its Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 at the 2.54 mile, twelve-turn natural terrain road course in early September.

The Austin, Texas based squad aims to finish on a high note after a season that showed much promise, considerable speed but only one podium in the GTD Class.

"I am really looking forward to a ten-hour fight at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta," said Mario Farnbacher, driver of the #66 NSX GT3 Evo22. He went on to explain why the track has such an important place in his career in the USA. "It's a special track for me because it was my very first race in the US which I also won. It’s a really cool event and it has some similarities to Sebring, just with less bumps. We had a very good test with Kyffin and Till and I think the car should be strong."

Mario Farnbacher (Right) and Kyffin Simpson (Center) with Marc Miller (Left) at Watkins Glen in June.

For the teenager from the Cayman Islands, Kyffin Simpson, two days of valuable seat time at the track has given him a great deal of confidence and served to ramp up the anticipation for this marquee race. "I am really looking forward to the start of Petit Le Mans next week. Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is a track that I enjoy a lot and I can’t wait for the opening practice session on Thursday Morning. We had a good test and I think we can be very quick."

Till Bechtolsheimer is happy to racing at Road Atlanta for the first time in 5 years.

The third member of the driving lineup, Till Bechtolsheimer, used the recent test to reacquaint himself with the 2.5 miles of undulating and twisting tarmac North East of Atlanta. "I can’t remember the last time I did a test but I am very happy we got one in ahead of Petit Le Mans. I haven’t raced at Road Atlanta since 2017 so to say I was rusty would be an understatement. It’s an exciting but tricky track so the extra time to prepare should be invaluable. We’ve been fast all year but haven’t had the chance to get a good result yet. I’m hopeful we can turn that around at the weekend."

The recent test at Road Atlanta has given Team Manager, Andris Laivins, a lot of confidence.

Team manager Andris Laivins is not short of experience at Michelin Raceway, but the 2022 challenge will be unique."It's interesting, even though this our fifth season with the NSX, it will be the first time we've raced with it at Road Atlanta. We tested here a couple weeks ago and had good pace, everything was smooth. There are still some areas we can improve, so I'm optimistic for the race next week as long as we can manage all the crazy traffic. My first pro race was here 20 seasons ago with a touring car and we ended up on the podium, so that would be nice to repeat!"

Live television coverage from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta begins at 12 p.m.ET Saturday, October 1 with three hours of coverage on NBC. Coverage then returns from 7 p.m. ET to the finish on USA Network. Live flag-to-flag race coverage will be available on the Peacock streaming platform. For International viewers without a TV broadcaster, the race will be available on www.imsa.tv. Fans can listen to audio commentary via www.imsa.com, www.radiolelmans.com and Sirius XMRadio (Sirius 216, XM 202, SiriusXM Online 992) and follow the race live via IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile App.

For full event coverage please follow Gradient Racing on Twitter at @GradientRacing, on Instagram at @gradientracing and on our Facebook page.