Vogel Shows Good Speed Despite Tough Luck

Technical gremlins and charges through the field: it was a hectic weekend for Flying Lizard Motorsport's Erin Vogel at GT4 America's return to the track, with the American racer showing good speed at VIRginia International Raceway.

It was a four-month long stop between the GT4 America season opener at Circuit of the Americas and the second round, as the COVID-19 crisis put the word on hold. But last weekend the cars finally made their way back to the racetrack for the SRO-run championship, with both the Sprint and SprintX series resuming on-track action at VIRginia International Raceway.

American racer Erin Vogel made her debut in the series at COTA claiming a top-5 result with the McLaren 570S GT4 prepared by Californian sportscar powerhouse Flying Lizard Motorsports and alongside works driver Michael Cooper.

At the end of May, Vogel and Cooper had the opportunity to test at the Virginia facility in preparation of last weekend's triple header. It was Erin's first visit to the track, but she managed to significantly improve her lap times over the course of the test and was confident for a positive result in her #30 McLaren.

“I’m very excited to be back with the team next week, and back in a racecar,” said Vogel before the second round of her rookie season. “Despite the challenges over the last few months, we've been able to get some much-needed updates done on the car, and we were even able to squeeze a little testing in as things were opening up again. VIR is a beautiful facility and a challenging course that will provide for great racing. I hope with the work we've done that we'll continue to improve our standings within the class.”

“VIR is always a great track to visit and the staff there have done an incredible job to put on this event along with everyone at SRO,” added Cooper, who during the break was among the drivers training and competing on the iRacing e-sports simulator platform. “Hopefully the procedures that have been implemented are effective and we can go back to racing full time.”

Unfortunately, the #30 suffered damage resulting from issues with the exhaust system in the final test session Thursday afternoon. The lengthy repairs caused Vogel and Cooper to both miss their qualifying sessions Friday morning, and with a monumental team effort, the #30 car was back on track mid-way through the first race that afternoon, eight laps behind the leader. It wasn't the start of the weekend that the Flying Lizard Motorsports duo had hoped for, but it allowed Vogel and Cooper to check the car's performance and reliability ahead of Saturday's race.

“The Flying Lizard Motorsports' guys have been working non-stop to get the #30 McLaren back on track.” – Cooper wrote just before the start of the first race. “Unfortunately, we will start all 3 races from last place due to missing qualifying. There’s nothing like a good come back though”.

With that piece of bad luck, it was an uphill round for the McLaren drivers, but both Cooper and Vogel drove impressively, fully committed to make the most out of the VIR races. In race two, Cooper charged through the field from his 20th place starting position to seventh overall, making the mandatory pit stop and driver change. Erin Vogel stepped in for the second stint, but the latch on the door failed, forcing her to make an extra pit stop, moving the car back down the charts, losing all progress previously made. Vogel was able to set competitive lap times throughout her stint, but again, the car finished near the rear of the field.

The No. 30’s streak of bad luck finally ceased in race three, where Vogel again started from 20th position, methodically picking off her competitors, one by one. She advanced eight positions in her stint, and Cooper took over to claim another five, resulting in a seventh-place overall finish, less than two seconds away from a class podium.

“We were really impressed with Erin Vogel this weekend,” said Law. “We had some tough luck with mechanical issues at the start of the weekend, but she didn’t let it get her down. She and Michael Cooper had a great run in the final race of the weekend. We are looking forward to having the next round at our home track in Sonoma and keeping the momentum going.”

Despite the setbacks, both Flying Lizard Motorsport cars ended the weekend on a high note, eager to carry the momentum to the next rounds at Sonoma Raceway, August 7-9. Located in California’s wine country, Sonoma raceway is the home base for Flying Lizard, and the site where the team does much of its testing throughout the year. The team is expected to turn in a strong performance, with all drivers previously having ample testing time at the circuit.

“We wrapped up the Sunday race with our best finish so far this season,” said Vogel. “Honestly, it was just a relief to have a race where everything went to plan, which was all I wanted this morning from the moment I woke up. To finish just one position off the podium was both wonderful and bittersweet. The car didn't have the pace to catch third place this weekend, and we know that there's still time to be found in the set-up. However, we got a lot closer to it even with all the disruptions this weekend, and we have a game plan for Sonoma that will hopefully take us that one step closer. The crew worked miracles this weekend to get us this result, and it was a redeeming end to a tough weekend.”

Michael added, “today was a good way to cap off the weekend, to come home seventh overall and fourth in class. All the Flying Lizard guys had a pretty tough workload this weekend. But they got the car back together and running strong, so thank you to them. Erin did a really good job getting us in that position today, so I was just trying to hold it, which wasn’t the easiest thing. I managed to bring it home. I’m looking forward to the next race at Sonoma. Hopefully we can be a little more competitive at our home track.:

Text: Racers – Behind the Helmet (www.racers-behindthehelmet.com) and Flying Lizard Motorsports