Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA
Special feature

Driver column: Versteeg improving with every win

All I can say is after that massive break after Sebring in March, it feels great to be back!

Race winner Austin Versteeg

Race winner Austin Versteeg

LAT Photo USA for IMSA

Austin Versteeg
Austin Versteeg takes the win
Race winner Austin Versteeg
Austin Versteeg

Our series completed in July a very two busy weeks of racing. We started with three rounds on Fourth of July weekend at Watkins Glen in New York and finished July 8-10 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario.

I was super anxious to get back in the car at Watkins Glen, as it had been more than three months since our last race in the Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires. It was immediate business headed into the first practice because we only had two practices before qualifying because this weekend at the Glen featured three races, one more than usual. The first practice didn’t go exactly to plan, with us dealing with some issues in the car, but nonetheless it was a solid base for the rest of the weekend.

Building team chemistry 

After the first practice, I sat down with my JDC Motorsports teammates and talked about the car to our engineer about some changes we could do to help improve heading into the second practice.

The team and I are really starting to “click” together. I’ve noticed that the terminology between me and our engineers and mechanics is starting to mesh as I’m halfway through my first season at JDC. It feels great to start to learn how different engineers explain different things and take that terminology and put it in your piggy bank to use in the future.

We went into the second practice, and it as a massive positive! We got the car where we wanted, and we were able to make changes as the session finished. We were super happy with the car, and I was excited to qualify.

Qualifying came around, and what a session it was! The team and I had a pretty good idea the track would get faster every single lap, so it was vital to get clean laps.

After the first lap when the tires were getting up to temperature, I decided to get a gap for clear laps. As I opened my first flyer, a red flag came out, forcing the field to pit. At this point, pretty much everyone had a lap in except for me. It was a bit nerve-racking because the red was a long one, and I wasn’t sure that we were going to get a lap. Thankfully we went green after what seemed an eternity.

I knew that I had to push 105 percent to get the tires back up to temperature and get in three or four clear laps. As the session went on, I was trading fast laps with my teammate Clark Toppe and set my best time on the second-to-last lap. I was a bit worried because I was held up on my last flyer, and the track was getting faster every single lap. I knew the pole battle would be tight between Clark and me. Thankfully my fast lap was enough to lock down pole for the first race, and my next fastest was good enough to have pole for the second race. It was a solid qualifying, but I knew that the work wasn’t even halfway done because we still had three races left.

Race 1 - WGI

Race one came around, and it was a beautiful Friday morning. We knew race one would be dry, but we weren’t sure about race two later in the day because storms were forecasted.

You have to work hard to get everything warmed up in the car on the short pace lap so you can be ready to go a short time later. We were paired up and ready to go green on the freshly paved Watkins Glen circuit, and I had a small shifting issue halting my start as we went green, sending me to second place as we reached the first corner. I was under attack the first lap, trying to figure out the shifting issue. I dropped back to third, but shortly after I had figured out what was going on and started the push forward.

I was able to get past second-place Kyle Masson and start the chase to the leader, my teammate Clark Toppe, who had pulled out a gap while I was battling for second. The car was amazing, and I was able to put down fast laps and caught Clark. After a few laps behind him, I made the move going into Turn 6 and stretched the lead to almost two seconds at the end of the race. It was an amazing feeling pulling in my second career car victory, but the celebrations were short-lived because we had another race later in the day.

Race 2 - WGI

It was a scramble as race two rolled around Friday afternoon. The weather seemed to be playing tricks on us.

It would rain for five or six minutes and stop. As it seemed to be drying, the rain would resume. Finally about 30 minutes before we rolled out to race, and about 10 minutes before pre-grid closed, the rain stopped and we were pretty sure the race would be dry. We were paired up to take the green again, and I was starting on pole.

Once again as we went to start the race, I had a similar shifter issue as in the first race and dropped to third. I was able to pass for second fairly quickly and start the chase on my teammate Clark once again.

This chase was helped when a full-course yellow came out, and the field was bunched up. I restarted in second place but had another issue with shifting, (just some good old electrical gremlins) and dropped down to third again. I was able to pass for second right away and restarted my charge ahead once again. I was able to reel in Clark and pass him in Turn 5, also known as the “Carousel,” and stretch my lead to 4.9 seconds. Once again, it was an amazing feeling, and I was able to enjoy both my wins a little more because we were done for the night.

I had set fast lap in each race, which meant I would start on pole Saturday morning for the third and final race of the weekend.

Race 3 - WGI

It was beautiful morning, the final race day. The only difference was it was cooler than the rest of the week.

As we went to green, we had fixed the issues with the gears and I had a great jump. I led the field a half a lap before we went full-course yellow for a crash in the Bus Stop chicane. The restart came, and I had a good jump, defending a little bit into Turn 1. We had a good little stint, gapping the field before another yellow came out to bunch the field.

I got another great start and started to stretch the lead again. On the final lap heading to checkered, I was able to set a track record for Prototype Lites cars at Watkins Glen. This proved the team gave me a great car for the entire weekend.

It was an amazing feeling to get the third win for a sweep of the weekend and set the track record even though the cars are a bit heavier this year compared to last year at the Glen.

Something else also was special at Watkins Glen. I partnered with some new companies and sported their brand on the car for the entire weekend and for the rest of the year! These brands are MuscleEgg, Papa Pita, and DeP Patch.

MuscleEgg is the world’s first liquefied egg whites, which you can use in protein shakes or to make pancakes, brownies, etc., with 25 grams of protein per cup, no fat, no cholesterol and just 3 grams of sugar. They’re available in many different flavors. Papa Pita is a bakery that makes many different styles of breads, bagels and muffins, sold across the western United States. DeP Patch is a cosmetics product that helps rejuvenate damaged skin cells around the face. The company offers many different patches and creams for the face to help with irritated or damaged skin cells.

Check them all out online! Also if you’re interested in trying some MuscleEgg, direct message me on Facebook, Instagram (@aversteeg77) or Twitter (@AVersteeg77) for a 10 percent discount on all of your MuscleEgg purchases with a special referral code.

After Watkins Glen, we had a quick, two-day turnaround to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario.

The initial part of the weekend up in Canada was a bit more relaxed since we had five practices before qualifying, unlike just two at Watkins Glen. I continued to adapt to the track at CTMP in practice, getting the car more dialed every session.

We had a really good car for qualifying. Traffic is the hardest part about qualifying at CTMP, as it’s one of the shorter tracks on our schedule. I was consistently having to create gaps and ended up missing pole for the first race by a few hundredths but qualified on pole for race two.

CTMP races

Race one was physical Saturday, that’s for sure. We made a few tweaks to the car but just didn’t quite have enough pace to win the 30-minute race that went green until the last few laps. But we still earned great points to help us keep the lead in the championship. After the podium ceremonies, I sat down with my engineer, and we put our heads together and decided to try a change for race two Sunday.

I had a great jump from pole for race two. We had a good stint, slowly pulling the lead to about five seconds when the first of three cautions arrived. I had a great jump on all restarts, slowly extending the lead after each one, with a car that was very fun to drive. It was a choppy 45-minute race, but in the end we led from start to finish and picked up our fifth win of the season while expanding our Lites 1 lead to 22 points halfway through the season! It was great to be on top of the podium with an absolutely amazing Canadian crowd on hand.

I want to say thank you to everyone at JDC Motorsports for all the hard work they do at the track and at the shop in Minnesota. I also want to thank all my sponsors for supporting me and my driver coach, Jonatan Jorge with JJRD, for all the help throughout every race weekend!

Thank you, too, to IMSA, Mazda and Cooper Tires for all the hard work they put into the series.

Up next are Rounds 8 and 9 on Aug. 12-14 at the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières in Quebec. It will be my first street race in a car; I can’t wait!

Austin Versteeg

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Scott Hargrove bounces back in Toronto
Next article Canadian Jesse Lazare dominates Porsche GT3 Cup race in Virginia

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA