Road America, IMSA Championship Battle Are All New to Alex Quinn
Photo: Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
By Dennis Krause
When Alex Quinn gets to Elkhart Lake’s Road America next week for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix, it won’t be his first time out on the sweeping 4.048-mile road course. But it will be close.
The 25-year-old British racing driver got his first real laps at Road America earlier this week while testing the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07 he’ll share with co-drivers George Kurtz and Toby Sowery in next weekend’s six-hour race.
Quinn’s initial reaction to driving the Road America circuit?
“What I like about it is quite a flowing track,” Quinn said, “but at the same time, it has lots of different corners. Obviously, you have the Carousel. That is extremely high-speed and then you've got some heavy braking zones. The curbs are quite different to most tracks; they’re quite wide but also can be quite aggressive. So, there's a lot to take in.
“Coming from Mosport (Canadian Tire Motorsport Park), it's a lot longer. So, just a different feeling, but yeah, it's one of my first times here and it's really enjoyable to drive just in general.”
Quinn, who also competes in the European Le Mans Series and is a Hypercar test and development driver for Peugeot TotalEnergies in the World Endurance Championship, noted some differences between Road America and the European circuits he’s more used to.
“Yeah, it’s totally different to European tracks. The walls are much closer. The curves are very different. So, there's these things you kind of have to very quickly remember and get on top of initially. But I think all of us as drivers, we just naturally sort of get into the rhythm and things like that. You feel so much through your feelings, and you just naturally drive. As long as you don't overthink it, it should just come naturally to you.
“The (U.S.) tracks are still very cool to drive. I honestly prefer them to European tracks. I think they're very exciting. Road America in particular, learning it this morning has been a good challenge, but I feel like I've got up to speed to it quite quickly and I think that flowing nature is something that suits me a little bit as well.”
Photo: Brandon Badraoui/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
Quinn and teammate Kurtz lead the championship standings in the series’ Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class coming into the Road America round having finished in the top two in three of the four races so far this season.
“We've had really good momentum and we just want to carry that on. The car's feeling good. There's a lot of teams here as well, so it's going to be a tight field, but we just need to keep doing what we're doing and we're thinking championship already. We’re in a good spot and we just need to manage all the risks and hopefully keep the speed that we have and see where we end up at the end.”
For next Sunday’s six-hour enduro, the LMP2 class rules stipulate each car must have three drivers with each driver having a one-hour, 30-minute minimum drive time. Rather than that being an issue for the team, Quinn believes it plays to their strength.
“We've got George as the Bronze (rated driver), but we welcome back Toby. Sowery’s our Silver, and I think for us, we see that as an advantage, because Toby's doing really well, and I think is a really strong asset to our lineup. We're happy to have him back in our three drivers.
“Also, the team I'm with in APR, they seem to always be very strong with strategies. So, it's a good confidence for us drivers to have them behind us. I think coming into the year, we've seen the endurance rounds as probably our stronger point. To come away with podiums in the sprint races was good. So yeah, looking forward to it.”
Having to share a car with two other drivers of varying skill levels mean compromises sometimes need to be made when it comes to car set-up. Quinn says the team is lucky in that regard.
“It’s a bit different here (Road America). It shows it more because everyone's so close, so the little differences make a big difference. Just finding today that because it's flowing, and me as a driver, I like a lot of front. Here, as soon as we're in a lot of the corners, you have to kind of get off the brake and roll the speed with the flowing nature. To do that, I think you need a car with good front it seems, at least. That's actually what we're working on today a little bit.
Photo: Brandon Badraoui/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
“Having George as well, the Bronze driver,” Quinn continued, “you might think, okay, we need a bit of a safer car, but actually, I think a lot of the Bronzes nowadays are so good and run at such a high level that, at least in our case, we're lucky that George can handle the car that me and Toby, the other pro, likes. So that factor doesn't necessarily come into it as much as some might think.”
For the first time in his career, Quinn is part of a season championship battle. While he’s excited by that, he’s trying not to let it distract him from the job immediately at hand.
“Yeah indeed, it's new to me. It's my first full season in IMSA. I did the (four-race Michelin) Endurance Cup. We won the full season, but of course I was the Silver in 2023. So technically didn't win the championship. But being in it properly for the first time is really nice. You’re really not thinking about it much. You’re just taking every race as it comes and each stint as it comes. On each weekend, you're just focusing fully on how the car feels and the strategy and stuff like that.
“In my opinion, you don't have time to think about the championship too much, just as long as you're not taking risks. It’s an amazing championship and honestly just feel quite lucky to be in the position I am at the minute, just need to keep it going. We've won Daytona, of course, but since then we've been on the podium and probably the most consistent. But we have people behind us that are really, really quick, like, Inter Europol, who won the last round, and United (Autosports USA) are very quick at times. AO’s the past champion. We can't relax. It's just, I think, consistency is probably key now, and that's been our strength so far this year, so we need to keep that going.”
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute.