Stevenson Motorsports were disappointed to miss the GT Daytona podium after a strong early run at the IMSA Whethertech SportsCar Challenge round at Road America.
The two GT Daytona Audi R8 LMS of #6 Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis crossed the finish line in fifth while the #9 of Matt Bell and Lawson Aschenbach right behind in sixth.
Yet the team was disappointed by the result, as they had been in podium contention for the majority of the race. The team started second and third and maintained theses positions throughout the opening stint, but did everything to save every last bit of fuel possible. The strategy worked but the team lost time in pits due to quicker stops by their rivals.
In the blistering pace over the long green stint, the Audi’s were unable to keep up and both slipped back.
Team Manager Mike Johnson was disappointed, but reflected on the positives. “It’s a disappointing day because we had second and third place cars and we’re losing so much time in pit lane under fueling.
“The good news is that we’re running up front, we just have to have all the pieces fall together and we have three more races to do that.”
Liddell said that despite the team’s best efforts, they were unable to hang in all race long. “We are able to keep the car up front,” he noted, “but when it comes down to it, a battle at the end of the race we just aren’t quite there yet.
“We need to make the car better in race conditions so we can fight better at the end when it really matters.”
The team now heads, to their home track event, for the GT class only round at Virginia International Raceway on August 24-26 and Liddell is hoping to make amends.
“I feel bad for the whole team that we lost a podium finish today so I’m really looking forward to making up for it at VIR.”
