• 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00Alright, we're here with Adam Adelson and Elliot Skier. Guys, it's that time of year again, Rolex 24, next two weeks, and year number two for, you know, for Elliot, and then obviously Adam, you've been in this position before, you've raced in this race before as well, so how excited is it to be back here for the Rolex 24 and for this weekend?
00:20Unreal. The excitement levels are absolutely unbelievable. You know, coming into this race for the first time last year, we were here to learn, right? I think we still had a pretty strong result, you know, all things considered, but it was just about gaining that experience and knowing what to expect when we could be a bit more competitive.
00:43And, you know, now that we're here for the second time, even having only done this race once, it's insane how much more prepared I feel, I'm sure Elliot feels the same way, and, you know, now we're here for a result, and I'm really confident in our driver lineup, and I'm really confident in our team, and now it's just about going to execute.
01:07Yeah, I think the analogy I would use is it's the first day of high school as a freshman versus a sophomore, right? Day one last year, everything's new, everything's shiny, you know, some of the people, but you don't know how it's going to go, and it's just a world of excitement, you know, on top of the other extracurriculars that were going on with our team during it, which made it an unbelievable weekend.
01:29But ultimately, now coming in for the second year, you have an idea how the weekend's going to go, right? It's still our second one, we only have one weekend to look at, but still, you get a rough idea with it, you build some confidence in ways, but ultimately it is, again, the first day of school, back for a new year.
01:45So, excitement, always some changes, some unknowns, especially this year in GTD, there's a fair bit of unknowns with the torque sensors, so, no, we're just coming in refreshed, ready for it, yeah, just happy to be back at the track with everyone again.
01:59Yeah, you talked about the extracurriculars, like, you know, last year you guys had the Chip Hart Racing identity for the first race, involved with the new F1 movie that's coming out this year, I mean, to now be able to kind of go into year two, have more of the focus be on the racing, rather than have to, you know, deal with everything going on within filming a movie and everything like that, how nice is it to now be able to kind of focus on the racing this year, and, I mean, obviously the focus is always racing, but to have more of that focus now here be on the racing this weekend.
02:28Yeah, well, I mean, first things first, I want to give huge credit to that production crew for the movie, because, you know, we told them, hey, we're here to race, that's what we're here to do, and that's what our focus is, and you guys, you know, we need mutual respect, we want them to be able to do their jobs, and we also don't want them to be a big distraction for us, and they gave us so much respect in that regard.
02:48So, you know, from being able to focus on the race solely, from that perspective, it's actually not that different. Our suits are different colors, so is our car, we're racing under our own name, but that's really the big difference for us, yeah.
03:05I like it, I like it. Now, obviously last year, not only did you guys run in WeatherTech, but you guys also ran in GT World Challenge America, able to grab a championship as well. How beneficial is that to be able to, obviously, you know, both of you guys are in your rookie season, so to be able to have that extra opportunity to get more seat time in a very competitive series like SROM with GT World America, so how important was that extra seat time to be able to have that, and then to go out and win a championship, I mean, I imagine that had to be, like, a world record.
03:35Yeah, I mean, I think the best way I'll look at that is, if you go through a World Challenge season and you, what, 12 races a year or something like that, right, that's 12 stints, 12 scenarios, maybe 8, 10 restarts, give or take.
03:54When you throw on an entire IMSA season as well, now you've just had an 8, 9, 10, with the endurance races, watch 15 restarts, lap traffic, it just, it builds your library, your vocabulary, the situations you've seen, the things you've felt, so going into the NB8 hour or any of the real crucial SRO moments later in the year, you have an extra 7, 8 races worth of experience to then use as you play out there.
04:21So ultimately, IMSA was a tool for experience, for building, but with the emphasis on the SRO championship, and getting out of his first championship, getting me another one, it's been a while since we've done it.
04:35So ultimately, mission accomplished there, and I think IMSA went better than we ever could have expected, right, things fell our way, we were feeling strong at points, that definitely, that turned into a very successful year, working alongside SRO, but now coming into this year, right, that shifts to IMSA, to where it is, okay, everything we learned in SRO, how do you win a championship, apply it now in the IMSA world as well.
05:00So yeah, it was a very beneficial experience just getting those extra races.
05:04Yeah, and you guys were so strong last year in endurance races, and you guys obviously expanded the schedule for this season, so, I mean, to have that confidence coming into this year where you guys know you guys have a strong car with the endurance racing and with your guys' races, I mean, that's definitely got to give you guys a lot of confidence heading into this weekend.
05:20Yeah, absolutely. You know, as Elliot touched upon, right, experience is just having been in enough situations that when you experience these things out on track, you have a clear path forward, you know exactly what to do and what's going to yield the highest probability of success, whatever situation you might be in.
05:42And, you know, it's just about relying on all of that and, you know, focusing on our performance and what we can do better as drivers and how to best help the team, you know, develop the car and also make use of the torque sensors and try to maximize our performance on all of those fronts.
06:02Yeah, what layer does that add, the torque sensors? I mean, that's going to be a whirlwind this weekend and next week. I mean, I imagine having this weekend without qualifying, it's going to be nice to be able to learn that side of things and learn how that's going to play a factor this year.
06:17I mean, I'll say just from what we've experienced with it at Wright that it's understanding and empowering the torque sensors to do what they need to do correctly is as or more important than the car setup on the car now, which just means the communication driver to team as to what we need, how it affects the torque sensors, what the engineers now have to do to get it correct.
06:40As much as it is the driver on the car and his name on it, now the engineers almost lap to lap have as much of an impact as we do driving the car.
06:49So it just made a team sport even more team than it was. And that's something I think I feel very confident with all of us at Wright, that this is something we've been preparing for, like as a team on communication levels, on engineering depth.
07:02Adam is a mechanical engineer, so he very much understands the system, how to work it, the language and the communication with the engineers.
07:11I'm technical myself and having all the race experience and knowing just the communication involved. So it just means you can no longer just be fast.
07:19You have to now have a little bit of technical inside, work with the engineers in a way that we haven't had to before.
07:24And it just adds a complete new level and unknown to the racing that we've never seen.
07:29Who knows? This race is a crapshoot, right? Who knows how this is going to go? Sebring just as much.
07:36Ultimately, there's no expectations, no P8, P1. You never know at the end of the day. So let's just go put our best foot forward and see what happens.
07:45Adam, you're going to be a busy, busy guy these next two weeks because you've got GTD-X you're debuting in this weekend with the VP Racing Fuel Sports Car Challenge.
07:53There's a little weather that's impending too, so it might even make for a much more interesting weekend as well.
08:02Coming into this weekend, brand new class, GT3 cars now involved with the VP Racing Fuel Sports Car Challenge.
08:10What do you think this class will offer for teams like yourself and even offer to you as a driver in terms of getting more experience?
08:19And even learning just the GT3 car here in 2025. I mean, that's definitely got to be a huge benefit to have more seat time in a GT3 car.
08:27Yeah, absolutely. I mean, everything that you just mentioned in terms of getting more seat time, more experience, more wheel-to-wheel action, same car, same track, it's all hugely beneficial.
08:40I think the biggest thing, at least for me, is driving a car without the torque sensors and driving a car with the torque sensors.
08:47And I don't want to get too much into detail because I feel like I figured out a few things on how to drive the car with the torque sensors that can be beneficial to performance.
08:57And you can get away with things in the cars without torque sensors that you can't get away with in the cars with torque sensors.
09:06So I think it's going to be about managing the two different driving styles.
09:11Managing the two different driving styles and making sure that habits that are beneficial for one and not for the other don't mix.
09:23But yeah, I haven't been able, I'm not eligible to participate in any single driver series except for that right now.
09:32So that's what it's about for me. It almost makes me think back to the old days when Elliot was just my coach instead of my co-driver.
09:41And now he can be on the radio and just be, it'll be really great and really fun and interesting and I'm just excited to go get more wheel-to-wheel action.
09:53It is almost a fun throwback in a way to how it used to be.
09:56Yeah, how it used to be. So now this time with all the confidence in the world, it's going to be fun.
10:01Going back to being hype man, if you will.
10:03Oh yeah, I'm going to be up there with the spotters on the radio, absolutely.
10:06I love it, I love it.
10:08Now I just have to say send it, go get it, don't have to do anything else for them.
10:11And also too, with the VP Racing Fuel Sports Car Challenge, I think it really does offer a true pipeline now into the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship.
10:20Now that you have a series that offers GT3 racing, I think this series is going to be really beneficial for a lot of drivers.
10:26Whether they're just getting into GT3 racing or they've had a year or two of experience in GT3 racing.
10:31I think there's going to be a lot of valuable experience from racing in a series like this.
10:35Dealing with traffic, dealing with the different speeds of the different cars with LMP3 and obviously the GT4s.
10:41I think it's going to make for an interesting season for this year, for the kind of revamped series, if you will.
10:45Yeah, absolutely.
10:47I raced in VP Challenge in 2023 in a Cayman, in a GT4 car, GSX.
10:54And it was massively beneficial to learning how to deal with the prototype traffic.
11:01Because the closing rate between an LMP3 car and a GSX car at some tracks was actually a faster closing rate than a GTP on a GTD.
11:09So for everyone involved, I think it's massively beneficial to gain that experience and I definitely think it's an incredible stepping stone.
11:18I feel like it definitely filled the hole in the actual market where you can get that type of experience that you really can't get anywhere else.
11:27And with two races, you can really do a lot of good preparation for getting into WeatherTech.
11:33But with a year of experience in WeatherTech and no experience in a GTD-X class in VP Challenge, my perspective is a little bit different.
11:43And the way I'm approaching it is more so for the performance and to try to get race wins and also to get more track time.
11:52Yeah, and obviously you mentioned no torque sensors in those cars for the GTD-X class and then obviously having the torque sensors in the new GT3 cars.
12:01But is there anything you're able to take away from the GTD-X class that you can kind of give, if you will, or kind of use in terms of when you race in the GTD class here coming up this season?
12:14Absolutely. I mean, it's the same car, different chassis, but it's the same car.
12:20And you might get small differences between chassis that might make the setup a little bit different.
12:24But ultimately, the same types of changes on one car should yield the same effect on those same changes on a different chassis.
12:33So I think it'll help us massively in terms of sharing that data and sharing those setup notes and my driver feedback.
12:43And maybe there's a setup direction that we can try on the VP car that we might not have enough time to try on the WeatherTech car.
12:52And it'll just give us a little bit more time to try some more things.
12:56Elliot, I'll go to you to kind of close off here.
12:59Rolex 24, biggest race of the year, now you kind of come into the second season.
13:04I imagine it's still got to be exciting coming into this, but I imagine it's got to be much more calming to come into this weekend where you got through your first one.
13:12Now you kind of understand how the process works and how things are going to run.
13:16So I imagine it's going to be a much more relaxed weekend here coming up for the next two weeks.
13:21Without a doubt.
13:23You definitely look at this weekend as something you've been through before.
13:27Something where you do have a rough idea on how it's going to go.
13:30Does that set expectations because we've done it before?
13:33Yes and no, there's enough variables now that I think we don't really have as much of an expectation as we would have before.
13:39If the BOP was exactly the same and everything, I think that would change it a bit.
13:43So I think this is that perfect sort of scenario.
13:45There's unknowns on the technical side, there's more knowns on the driving side.
13:48I think there's a comfort coming into it that at least we know where to be.
13:53We have an idea on how it's going to go.
13:55That builds a bit of confidence in it.
13:57So where last year it's let's get to the end and let's see, this year now it's let's get to the end and be as high up that order as we know we can be.
14:05So definitely a little bit of confidence there that we are here to perform as well.
14:11And we know we have an incredible car, an amazing team.
14:14Probably the youngest driver lineup in GTD as well.
14:16But we all look at each other and know we can get the job done.
14:19So it's going to be a fun event.
14:21And if we cross the finish line as high up as we can be, ideally in quite a good spot, hopefully.
14:27Smiles on the face, get a good start to the year and get it all going again.
14:32I love it, I love it.
14:34Well guys, thank you so much for your time.
14:36Obviously good luck these next two weeks.
14:38Good luck to you this weekend.
14:40I might have to find a way to hear those audio clips on your team radio in terms of the hype that you're going to be giving.
14:48So I think it's going to be pretty good.
14:50Guys, good luck these next two weeks.