Darren Turner

READY TO GO AT LAGUNA SECA

21/10/2006

On the eve of the race, Darren took a few minutes to update us on how his last ALMS trip of the year was going.  He's at the Laguna Seca track on the Monterey Peninsula in California.

 

We’ve been here since Tuesday and it’s been really warm and sunny but I’ve managed to pick up a bit of a cold so am not feeling 100%. I’ve been to see the track doctor and he’s given me something for my throat so hopefully I’ll be okay for the race.

 

Practice has been okay – we’ve had four hours of it and everything is going alright though we’ve had a few little technical problems. The main one was an electrical problem just before the start of qualifying yesterday which hopefully they’ve managed to solve now – we won’t know for sure until morning warm up.

 

Tomas did a good job in qualifying – getting us fourth in class - considering he only had six minutes to get a lap in. He did a good job first lap out and banged in a time so at least we’re on the grid and within striking distance of the competition, rather than at the back behind the GT2 cars. It’s really close.

 

Stephane did a great lap to get class pole and I’m sure Tomas would have been right up there if he’d had enough time to get another lap in before the chequered flag. It should be an eventful race as the cars are very close and I can see it being like Road Atlanta where we were in a train one behind the other.

 

It’s a four hour race and will finish in darkness so anything can happen, especially as the track is quite unpredictable.  It’s either very grippy, which suits our Pirelli tyres, or it’s very dusty and sandy and there’s no grip at all. That’s the same for everyone though so we’ll see how it turns out this evening.

Darren, 34, lives near Banbury in Oxfordshire. Successful in many different categories of motorsport, his most notable and high profile victories have been at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the British Touring Car Championship. He's a firm favourite with teams, fans, and media alike from around the world.

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