Orbit Racing - Laguna Seca race

California challenge

Orbit Racing finished 11th and 14th in Sunday's American Le Mans Series race 
at Laguna Seca Raceway, after a challenging afternoon on the 2.238-mile 
California road course.

Jay Policastro started the No. 42 Classic Industries Porsche 911 GT3 RS from 
16th on the GT grid.  He moved up to eighth in the first 75 minutes of his 
90-minute stint and then to fourth as pitstops started.  Joe Policastro drove the 
rest of the two-hour 45-minute race.  He returned to the track in 11th place, 
moved back to ninth and finally settled for 11th.

Leo Hindery started the No. 43 YES Network Porsche sixth in class.  He lost 
seven positions as he braked to avoid a first-lap melee that involved much of 
the field.  He held 13th despite 20 difficult laps on a flat-spotted tire.  
Peter Baron took the second stint at 1h35, but pitted again 20 minutes later when 
contact with another car broke the radiator.  He lost several laps during the 
nine-minute repair and the pair finished 14th.

Peter Baron

"We had a great race car; it would have been great for the finish, to move up 
some spots.  I came up to pass a car between turns five and six and the other 
car missed a shift.  I was just a couple of feet behind and it gave me no 
room to move, so I tapped into the back of it and we lost the radiator and a lot 
of laps.  But we have a real good car for [the next ALMS race in] Miami."

Leo Hindery

"That was a race of gremlins.  I thought we were going to be quite a bit 
better today, but it just shows how much luck is involved in racing.  I 
flat-spotted a tire up near the top of the Corkscrew and I ran 20 laps with a major flat 
spot, hoping we'd get a yellow.  Then Peter tapped the Ferrari and broke the 
radiator.  We finished 14th, but we could have been top five or six with any 
kind of luck.  We just had too many gremlins to be successful -- some of our 
own making and some bad luck."

Jay Policastro

"We got off to a pretty nice start.  There was a big group of cars that all 
qualified within a second of one another, and I was able to move up a few 
spots.  The Michelin tires were great, as always, and the crew did a super job on 
car prep - the car was as good on my     in-lap as it was on my out-lap."

Joe Policastro

"Jay did a hell of a job driving.  He moved all the way up to eighth from 
16th.  It was a tough ride all day.  I tried to hold the position, but I dropped 
back to 11th.  It was fast and furious and very competitive out there.  It was 
a good race, everybody respected everybody else out there and it was a lot of 
fun for the first time here."