Todd Lamb and Brian Henderson start on pole, fight back to third after penalty
Ryan Eversley and Taylor Hagler rack up another top five
BRASELTON, GA (October 16, 2020) –The Atlanta Speedwerks crew made their triumphant return to the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class, scoring pole position and a podium finish with the #84 Honda Civic Type R TCR of Todd Lamb and Brian Henderson.
Having not raced since the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, the Atlanta Speedwerks team competed in their first race in nearly nine months at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the FOX Factory 120. Fielding both the #84 and #94 Honda Civic Type R TCRs, the two-car team rolled off first for Lamb in the #84 and 10th with the #94 of Cliff Brown and Brian Ortiz.
Both cars, however, had to take penalties early in the race as they changed tires between qualifying and green flag, sending them to the rear of the field and a battle forward during the two-hour race, which featured a total of four caution periods.
The extended yellows, comprising more than half of the event, allowed both cars to extend their fuel windows and make only one stop compared to the competitors’ two. While the strategy gamble did not pay off for the eighth-place-finishing #94, it allowed the #84 to make up lost spots from their drive-through penalty and, when combined with a late-race pass, finish third in TCR.
The LA Honda World Racing team also entered two cars for the FOX Factory 120 event, with the two Civic Type R TCRs suffering different fates during the two-hour race.
Returning to IMSA competition for the first time since the September race at Road Atlanta, Mat Pombo and Mike LaMarra qualified ninth in the red-flagged qualifying session. LaMarra started in the #73 Honda Civic Type R TCR, and was running in the top ten as he handed over to co-driver Mat Pombo. Pombo continued to circulate until a tire issue sent him into the tire wall at turn one with 46 minutes on the clock.
Conversely, the #77 of Ryan Eversley and Taylor Hagler bounced back from their Mid-Ohio race two woes to score a top five finish. After scoring their first podium of the year in race one at Mid-Ohio, and leading for much of race two, Hagler and Eversley knew they had the pace to notch up another top five finish.
Starting from eighth, the #77 moved through the field and even led laps in the final hour before being forced to pit again. The duo fell to eighth in the final half hour after the pit stops, but worked their way up to a fifth-place finish at the flag.
HPD has three ready-to-race Civic models for touring car competition. The line starts with the affordable and reliable Civic Si TCA race car, then leads to the Civic Type R TC racer that puts legendary Type R performance on track, and culminates with the no-compromise, championship-winning Civic Type R TCR race car. Our unparalleled trackside support at every level from HPD engineers is a unique benefit that no other manufacturer can offer. Find out more about these cars and our touring programs at: https://hpd.honda.com/Motorsports/Touring
Honda Racing social media content and videos from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta are available on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD).
Next
The MICHELIN Pilot Challenge next travels to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca October 30 – November 1 for Monterey Sports Car Championship Weekend. The race can be streamed live on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.
Quotes
Todd Lamb (#84 Atlanta SpeedWerks Honda Civic Type R TCR), finished third: “We had an early drive through penalty for a tire management issue, but we made up for that and had really good strategy that got me back to the front of the field. From there, it was just managing to get through the GS traffic and try to gap the field as much as possible so we could do a pit stop without going a lap down. And that’s exactly what we did! This was Brian’s first time finishing a race, and we tried something a little different–but we ended up on the podium so it must have worked out!”
Brian Henderson (#84 Atlanta SpeedWerks Honda Civic Type R TCR), finished third: “It was definitely a weird race with so much yellow, but, man, it feels great to finally be on the podium. We ran all of last year, and didn’t get to run as much this year, which we’re really disappointed about. But, we’re so happy that our first race back we were able to put it on the podium. It feels so amazing!”