;)
Thought I'd share my experiences from the Cayman Interseries race at the HSR Sebring Fall Classic this weekend.
I was invited by a friend/coaching client of mine, Jim McCormick, to co-drive his Cayman Interseries car in Sunday's HSR 4-Hour Enduro at Sebring this weekend. Jim qualified on pole and took the first driving stint to start the race. I hopped in about 1 hour into the action, having never stepped foot in the car (which is fairly common for me to have to do!) and pulled a double-stint, which was just about 2 hours long, before handing the car back over to Jim for the last hour to take the checkered flag.
We won the race, which was great fun - but most importantly was HOW COOL these cars are! Holy cow! EXTREMELY comfortable and cozy to drive, amazingly well balanced, very mild-mannered, and downright FUN! I was really impressed. I mean, I'm a Cayman owner and lover, but having been in a Boxster on track in the past, I really wasn't too impressed - especially since I've spent plenty of time in stock 997's, 996's, GT3's, RS's, etc... but these things were just awesome! 4 hours of THRASHING this car and not a single inclination of brake fade, rising temps, gearbox issues or anything. The car was totally rock solid - and trust me, I gave it a good run.
I really think they are on to something great here. Very attractive package in every way - up front cost, maintenance cost, fun-factor and format. Being a part of the HSR weekends makes it the perfect environment for people to drive a modern car, with modern RELIABILITY at an affordable cost, with great people and fun, friendly formats. Besides, as if they weren't good looking enough, the vintage livery on the cars makes them really stand out - very cool, and very well put together.
I'm sold - and you can bet I'll be convincing a lot of my coaching clients that this is the way to go - instead of buying GT3-Cup cars.
Here's a great write-up by my buddy John Thawley and Sports Car Insider from the weekend - check it out at Sport Car Insider!
http://www.sportscarinsider.com/the-edge/2009/12/6/hsr-cayman-interseries.html