Hankook 24HR at COTA 2019
It’s the third year that the 24H Series stops at our home track of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. It’s our second year that we attend the endurance racing series and like last year, it didn’t disappoint.
Last year we were only able to attend the first day of the split 24 hour race. The cars were pristine as if they had been freshly wrap. For this year, we decided to attend the second day and the cars look anything but pristine.
With the exhaust filled rears, fenders filled with tire pieces, and hoods scuffed from debris, it was a sight to see! Even the track was filled with rubber pieces, drawing the racing lines the cars were taking
Even though endurance racing is all about conservative driving to run the entire duration, these racers did not get the memo! The racing was hard and you could see the battle scars that some had acquired. To add to the mix, the different classes made for some dodgy passing in turns 3-5 of COTA.
When we saw this year’s starting grid, we couldn’t wait to check out the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo from the Leipert Motorsport team. It was surprisingly quiet for a Lamborghini but it did make up with a fire show on downshifts up to turn 1.
The loudest car of the grid of course went to the MARC II V8 Mustang. You could hear it coming from 2 turns away. Even though the Mustang looked incredible, we kind of missed the insane Coyote V8 Focus they had last year. That was actually louder than the Mustang since it was equipped with side exhaust exits.
With a November 13-15 date secured for 2020, we’re definitely planning on being there the entire time and hope to capture some night racing action.
